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=Morris^s Story of the= 
Great Earthquake of 1908 

AND OTHER HISTORIC DISASTERS 



EMBRACING TWO BOOKS IN ONE VOLUME 

BOOK I. 

CONTAINS A COMPLETE AND ACCURATE ACCOUNT 
OF THE GREAT ITALIAN AND SICILIAN EARTH- 
QUAKE AND TIDAL WAVE OF 1908, one of the most 
fearful disasters nature ever visited upon the human race, 
in which more lives were lost, in a few ill-fated minutes, 
than Russia lost in battle during her war with Japan. 
A compendium of thrilling accounts given by eye- 
witnesses who escaped death, and those engaged in the 
noble work of relief, the whole being a picture of tragic 
pathos, before which civilization stands in fascinated awe. 
Pompeii of old, and San Francisco's great disaster pale 
into insignificance beside its frightful loss of life. 

BOOK II. 

INCLUDES A GRAPHIC STORY OF ALL GREAT 
EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN 
THE WORLD'S HISTORY, TOGETHER WITH SCIEN- 
TIFIC EXPLANATIONS OF THEIR CAUSES. 

—EDITED BY— ' '-„» 

CHARLES MORRIS 

The well-known Historian, Encyclopedist and Scientist. Author of "An Historical 
Review of Civilization;" "The Greater Republic;" "Decisive Events in American 
History;" "Man and His Ancestors; ' "The Volcano's Deadly Work;" "The San Fran- 
cisco Calamity;" "Half-Hours with Best American Authors;" Associate Editor on 
Encyclopedias, etc., etc. Member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Natural Sciences 
and tlie Geographical Society of Philadelphia. 

NEARLY lOO 1 1. L U ST B. ATI ON S 

MADE ESPECLA.LLY FOR THIS WORK, SHOWING THE HAVOC 
CAUSED BY FIRE, EARTHQUAKE AND VOLCANIC CONVULSIONS 






LIBRARY of congress] 
Two CoDies Receded 

fEB 4 1909 

. Copyrigiu tntry 
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COPY 3. 



Copyright, 1909, by 
E. M. ScxJix. 




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PREFACE 

TACITUS relates how the palaces and noble residences of the 
beautiful and ancient city of Pompeii were buried in ashes 
fathoms deep when Vesuvius awoke in its wrath ; and sacred 
history reveals the fate of the doomed Cities of the Plain when a 
rain of fire and brimstone poured down upon their spires and 
domes. No record of the past comes to us in more appalling form 
than these stories of sudden ruin and tferrible slaughter by the 
elemental powers of the underworld. But once again, in our own 
days, these powers have awakened, and death and destruction 
have visited ancient and famous Messina, the noble city of the 
Straits and of Sunny Sicily. 

Dreadful is the work that follows the clashing of sinking seas 
with the lakes of Hquid fire pent up in the earth. .Rack and ruin 
attend their meeting, and the dense solid shell of the earth is rent 
asunder by their might. It is to the battle of fire and water in the 
depths of the rocks that the volcano and the earthquake are due, and 
when these demons of the depths are at war man's puny strength 
is as powerless as that of the leaf before the cyclone. Then terror 
comes ; then the earth trembles to its heart and is rent in twain ; then 
the ashes of a terrible burning are cast forth to bury fertile plains 
and flourishing cities; then showers of burning rocks bombard the 
air and rivers of glowing lava scorch the earth, and human hopes 
and the results of man's labor are whelmed alike beneath the dread 
torrent of death and dismay. 

7 



8 PREFACE 

Earthquake and famine, fire and sudden death — these are the 
destroyers that men fear when they come singly ; how much worse is 
it when they come together, as they did upon the stricken people of 
Sicily and Calabria in the recent terrible catastrophe, a hideous 
quartette whose mission was the death or torment of human beings, 
the destruction in a moment's time of the wealth they had gathered 
in years of patient effort. It is the purpose of this book to make a 
faithful record of the story of that awful hour of ruin when years 
seemed lived in a minute, and to preserve an accurate chronicle of 
its events, alike for the people whose hearts throb in sympathy to-day 
and for the benefit of their posterity. 

Other frightful cataclysms the world has known. The earth- 
quake which dropped the greater part of the city of Lisbon into the 
sea in 1755, and in a moment swallowed up twenty-five thousand of 
its people; the convulsion which rent Krakatoa Island asunder in 
1883, and poured on the coast of Java a tidal wave in which thirty- 
six thousand human beings perished ; the whirlwind of fire which in 
1902 overwhelmed St. Pierre in Martinique, with its thirty thou- 
sand inhabitants; the earthquake which in 1906 ruined in a moment 
of time the thronged city of San Francisco, are all significant 
examples. The earth we live upon is never safe beneath our feet. 
It may quake and lift into billows at a moment's notice ; it may pour 
forth volumes of fire from the molten lakes which lie in its depths : 
heedless as we are of all this we are never for a moment safe from 
some such convulsion of nature. 

In view of all this, it has been deemed desirable to make this 
work a history of disasters of the character named : to gather within 
its pages a record of all the great convulsions of nature which 
history records; to recount the theories of the causes of earth- 



PREFACE 9 

quake and volcanic action ; to describe the geyser, the mud volcano, 
and all the minor outbreaks of the earth's internal forces. In this 
v^^ay its value will be very greatly added to, as within its pages 
readers will have a sufficient chronicle of all the famous historic 
disasters due to these causes. 

When the weakness and the folly and the sin of men bring woe 
upon other men, there are plenty of texts for the preacher and no 
scarcity of earnest preachers. But here is a vast and awful catas- 
trophe that befell from an act of Nature apparently not more extra- 
ordinary than the shrinkage of hot metal in the process of cooling. 
The consequences are terrifying in this case because they involve 
the habitations of half a million people; no doubt, the process 
goes on somewhere within the earth almost continuously, and it 
no more involves the theory of malignant Nature than that of an 
angry God. 

If we contemplate it, possibly we may be helped to a profitable 
estimate of our own relative insignificance. We think, with some 
notion of our importance, of the thousand million men who live 
upon the earth; but they are a mere handful of animate atoms in 
comparison with the surface, to say nothing of the solid contents, 
of the globe itself. 

We are fond of boasting in this latter day of man's marvelous 
success in subduing the forces of Nature; and, while we are in the 
midst of exultation over our victories, Nature tumbles the rocks 
about somewhere within the bowels of the earth, and we have to 
learn the old lesson that our triumphs have not penetrated farther 
than to the very outermost rim of the realm of Nature. 

A few weak, almost helpless, creatures, we millions of men 
stand upon the deck of a great ship, which goes rolling through 



lo PREFACE 

Space that is itself incomprehensible, and usually we are so busy 
with our paltry ambitions, our transgressions, our righteous labors, 
our prides and hopes and entanglements that we forget where we 
are and what is our destiny. A direct interposition from a Superior 
Power, even if it be hurtful to the body, might be required to 
persuade us to stop and consider and take anew our bearings, so 
that we may comprehend in some large degree our precise relations 
to things. The wisest men have been the most ready to recognize 
the beneficence of the discipline of affliction. If there were no 
sorrow, we should be likely to find the school of life unprofitable. 

For one thing, the school wherein sorrow is a part of the 
discipline is that in which is developed human sympathy, one 
of the finest and most ennobling manifestations of the Love which 
is, in its essence, divine. In human life there is much that is ignoble, 
and the race has almost contemptible weakness and insignificance 
in comparison with the physical forces of the universe. 

But man is superior to all these forces in his possession of the 
power of afifection; and in almost the lowest and basest of the race 
this power, if latent and half lost, may be found and evoked by the 
spectacle of the suffering of a fellow-creature. 

The human family looks on with pity while the homeless and 
hungry and impoverished Sicilians endure pangs. Wherever the 
news went, by the swift processes of electricity, there men and 
women, some of them, perhaps, hardly knowing where Messina is, 
v/ere sorry and willing and eager to help. There are quarrels within 
the family sometimes, when nation wars with nation, and all love 
seems to have vanished; but the world is, in truth, akin. "God 
hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth," and the blood 
*tciis'''' when suffering comes. 

The Publishers. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY. THE GARDEN 

SPOT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 17 

CHAPTER 11. 
GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY. 
ETNA AND STROMBOLI, VULCAN'S FIERY WORKSHOPS 31 

CHAPTER III. 
THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY. THEIR SETTLEMENT BY 
THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND CARTHAGINIANS, AND 
THEIR LATER ANNALS • • 41 

CHAPTER IV. 
THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO, THE DOOMED 

CITIES OF THE STRAITS 56 

CHAPTER V. 
THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF 1908 AND ITS SUR- 
PASSING HORRORS 68 

CHAPTER VI. 
THE GIGANTIC TIDAL-WAVE AND ITS SWEEPING DE- 
STRUCTION 79 

CHAPTER VII. 
THE HARVEST OF THE FIRE-DEMON AND ROBBERS OF 

THE VICTIMS 84 

(It) 



12 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VIIL 
THE PANIC FLIGHT OF A HOMELESS HOST 89 

CHAPTER IX. 
A WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 94 

CHAPTER X. 
ITALY'S KING AND QUEEN HASTEN TO THE SCENE OF 
DESOLATION 109 

CHAPTER XL 
THE BURIED THOUSANDS AND THE NOBLE BAND OF 

RESCUERS 115 

CHAPTER XII. 
WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY AND THE UNIVERSAL BROTHER- 
HOOD OF MAN 120 

CHAPTER XIIL 
THE RED CROSS SOCIETY, THE LIGHTHOUSE OF INTER- 
NATIONAL CHARITY, SENDS ITS BENEFICENT AID .... 125 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SUMMING UP AFTER THE GREAT CATASTROPHE 130 



BOOK II. 

The History and Causes of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Other 

Seismic Phenomena. 

CHAPTER XV. 

FAMOUS EARTHQUAKES OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL 
TIMES •• 139 

CHAPTER XVI. 
THE GREAT LISBON AND CALABRIAN EARTHQUAKES 149 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 

CHAPTER XVII. 
EARTHQUAKES IN THE NEW WORLD PRIOR TO 1900 159 

CHAPTER XVIIL 
TPIE SAN FRANCISCO CALAMITY AND OTHER EARTH- 
QUAKES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 168 

CHAPTER XIX. 
THE VOLCANO AND THE EARTHQUAKE, EARTH'S DEMONS 
OF DESTRUCTION 204 

CHAPTER XX. 
THEORIES OF VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 214 

CHAPTER XXL 
THE ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 235 

CHAPTER XXII. , 
THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF 
POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM 247 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
ERUPTIONS OF VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 266 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
VESUVIUS DEVASTATES THE REGION OF NAPLES 288 

CHAPTER XXV. 
SKAPTER JOKULL AND HECLA, THE GREAT ICELANDIC 
VOLCANOES • 307 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
VOLCANOES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND OTHER PACIFIC 
ISLANDS •• 315 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS AND KILAUEA'S 
LAKE OF FIRE 334 



14 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
POPOCATEPETL AND OTHER VOLCANOES OF MEXICO AND 
CENTRAL AMERICA 351 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
THE TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 359 

CHAPTER XXX. 
ST. VINCENT ISLAND AND MONT SOUFRIERE IN 1812 377 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH IN 1902 388 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
SUBMARINE VOLCANOES AND THEIR WORK OF ISLAND- 
BUILDING 423 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
MUD VOLCANOES, GEYSERS AND HOT SPRINGS 433 



BOOK 1. 

An Account of 

The Great Earthquake of 1908 

The Destruction of the Cities of Reggio 

and Messina and Scores of Towns; 

and the Laying Waste of Vast 

Sections of Country in 

Italy and Sicily 



fio 



A CALAMITY COLOSSAL WITHOUT A PRECEDENT 

T 




THE SCENE OF NATURE'S MOST AWFUL DISASTER 
(December 28, 1908) 



(i6) 



CHAPTER I. 



The Boot of Italy and Beautiful Sicily. The Gar- 
den Spot of the Mediterranean: Its Tradition, 
History, Geography, and Scenic Attraction. 



M 



IDWAY in the greatest of inland seas, the famous Mediter- 
ranean, lies the splendid island of Sicily, the greatest in 
geographical and historical position in that great body of 
water. At one time, as science and tradition tell us, it formed a 
connecting link between Europe and Africa, a great natural roadway 
between the two continents, dividing the Mediterranean into two 
vast lakes or inland seas, one of the east and one of the west. 

Geological research makes it evident that Sicily at one time 
extended south westward and joined the coast of Africa, and legend 
advises us that its northeast coast closed the present Strait of 
Messina, making the island an extension of the long peninsula of 
Italy. It was touched, in fact, by the toe of that singular boot-like 
projection which gives the south of Italy the appearance of taking 
a step forward into the sea, a step which would bring it in touch with 
the rock-ribbed coast of Sicily. The Strait, indeed, is only two miles 
wide in its narrowest section, and a giant foot might almost step 
from mainland to island in a single stride. 

Triangular in shape, Sicily has an area of 9,860 square miles, 
identical with that of our state of Maryland. Its surface is elevated, 
most of it standing more than 500 feet above sea level, while in many 

(17) 



i8 THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 

places it is mountainous. Its loftiest elevation is that of the great 
volcano of Mount Etna, which rises v^ith an exceedingly gentle 
slope from a base of 400 square miles in area to a height of 10,860 
feet above sea level. In dark and never ending threat this huge 
smoking and flaming mass towers above the east coast of the island, 
at times pouring rivers of glowing lava down its rugged sides 
while the earth quakes in responsive sympathy, levelling like ant- 
hills the proudest erections of man upon its surface. Greatest and 
most phenomenal of all these disasters was that of the 28th of De- 
cember, 1908, whose death-roll was one of the highest ever known in 
the earth's record of similar convulsions of nature. A full account 
of this frightful cataclysm is reserved for a later chapter of our work, 
it seeming a more satisfactory and artistic presentation of our sub- 
ject to lay before the reader the scenic surroundings before dealing 
with the great event which gives them such striking importance. 

THE ISLAND OF SICILY. 

The island of Sicily of old was given the poetical name of 
Trinacria, arising from its triangular shape, and referring to its 
three promontories of Pelorum (now Faro) in the northeast, Pachy- 
num (now Passaro) in the southeast and Lilybaeum (now Boeo) 
in the west. It occupies a part of the Mediterranean so shallow as 
to indicate that it was once above water, dividing the sea into two 
basins. The water between Sicily and Cape Bon in Tunis, is now, 
except for a very short interval, less than 100 fathoms in depth. 
The very narrow Straits of Messina, which separate it from Italy, 
are much deeper, nearly everywhere exceeding 150 fathoms. 

There are indications in the character of the rocks around this 
strait that the island once formed part of the mainland, but was split 



THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 19 

off from it at an ancient date. Afterward it seems to have been 
joined again for a period, and Africa may also have been joined to 
Sicily in a recent geological period, as is shown by the fossil bones 
in Sicily of the African elephant, hippopotamus and hyena. But all 
this was probably before man came upon the earth and inhabited 
that island. 

The north coast of Sicily is generally steep and has many good 
harbors, of which that of Palermo is the best. In the east also 
steep, rocky coasts prevail, except opposite the Plain of Catania, and 
in the northern half of this coast the giant mass of Mount Etna 
erects itself as a vast landmark, while its lava streams stand out for 
a distance of about twenty miles in a line of bold cliffs and promon- 
tories. In the west and south the coast is generally flat and less 
favorable to shipping. 

The tides here, as in the rest of the Mediterranean, are so slight 
as to be scarcely observable, yet at several points in the west and 
south coasts the water occasionally rises suddenly to the height of 
three feet, and this is repeated at intervals of a minute sometimes 
for a number of hours. The cause of this curious oscillation of the 
water is not known. 

The mountains of Sicily are chiefly in the north, their lower 
slopes everywhere being cultivated and forming a continuous series 
of olive groves and orange fields. The rest of the island is a plateau 
of varied elevation and to a great extent is devoted to the growth of 
wheat. The only large plain in the island is that of Catania, immedi- 
ately south of the foothills of Etna. It is watered by the Simeto 
river. 

THE SICILIAN CLIMATE. 

Coming now to the question of climate, we find that Sicily has 
the warm and equable temperature of most of the Mediterranean 



20 THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 

region. The mean temperature of January is nearly as high as the 
October temperature of southern England. Snow is rarely seen 
on the coast, though on the higher peaks it lies till June and on Etna 
till July. The rainfall is so low in the summer months that most 
of the streams dry up in that season. In the winter it is often so 
great as to make torrents of the streams. 

While the summer climate is usually soft and salubrious, it 
is not always so, the island being subject to a severe scourge in the 
Sirocco, a hot, dry, strong and parching wind which comes from 
the south, bringing with it leaden-colored and hazy skies, due to 
immense quantities of reddish dust brought from the Sahara desert. 
It lasts at times for three days, and while most frequent in April, no 
month is quite free from it. The same name is given to a moist 
and not very hot, but oppressive wind, which blows at times from 
the southeast. The Sirocco is the one thing that renders Sicily an 
unpleasant place of residence. Fortunately for the foreign residents 
it rarely occurs in the winter, the season in which the island is most 
attractive to these comfort-seeking birds of passage. 



SICILIAN AGRICULTURE. 



The flora of Sicily is remarkable for its wealth of species. It 
being more densely populated than any other large island of the 
Mediterranean and its people depending largely upon the products 
of their soil, it is extensively cultivated, and many plants may be 
seen in its fields which are not natives of the island. The olive, 
which is widely grown for its oil, must have been introduced ages 
ago, but the orange and lemon, the agave and the prickly pear, and 
various other plants characteristic of the island scenery, have been 
added during the Christian era. 



THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 21 

There are three zones of vegetable Hf e on the island ; that of the 
orange family, which reaches to about 1,600 feet above sea-level; that 
of wheat and the vine, which ascends to about 3,300 feet; and that 
of forest land, which extends above this level. The mountains of 
Sicily are admirably adapted to foster a flourishing growth of culti- 
vated trees in a climate of little rain during the warmer months. 
Composed mostly of limestone, they act like so many great sponges, 
the water sinking into and percolating through their innumerable 
pores and fissures. Thus stored up in their interior, it wells forth 
in springs at lower elevations, favoring the irrigation which is 
absolutely necessary for the orange and lemon during the dry season. 
Thus it is that all the higher lands in the north and northeast of the 
island present an endless succession of orchards of the orange, citron 
and lemon, together with groves of olives, almonds, pomegranates, 
figs, carobs, pistachios, mulberries and grapes. 

As an export crop the orange and lemon are especially import- 
ant, and the Messina orange has a world-wide reputation,. Since 
the steamship era the commerce in these fruits has greatly increased, 
and a striking feature in the commerce of the island is in the great 
supply of its fruits which is sent to the United States. Even more 
extensive than the cultivation of the orange and lemon is that of 
the olive, but this is less for exportation than for home consumption. 
This plant is grown to an elevation of about 2,700 feet, while that of 
the vine extends to some 800 feet higher. Among the plants 
adapted to a dry climate are the date palm, the plantain, the bamboo, 
and the dwarf palm, the latter growing in the greatest profusion in 
parts of Sicily. In the desolate region of the southwest it is nearly 
the only important vegetable product. Other plants which thrive on 
the driest soil are the deep-rooted sumach, the agave, and the prickly 



22 THE BOOT OF ITAL Y AND BE A UTIF UL SICIL Y 

■pear, the latter being a favorite article of diet. In the spring season 
beans form the chief article of food. 

If we now leave the region of the oak and fruit trees, which 
form the chief element of the highland forests, and that of cultivated 
trees, and descend to the open country, we find the soil very largely 
devoted to the growth of wheat;. At present — as was the case in the 
days of the Greek colonies and the later ones of Roman supremacy — 
Sicily is a rich granary, capable of feeding a large population. 
Fully three-fourths of its cultivated surface are devoted to cereals, 
especially to wheat, and it is this plant which gives character to the 
Sicilian landscape through most of the year. In the plain of 
Catania cotton is grown along with wheat, and the sugar cane and 
tobacco are cultivated to some extent. 

A singular fact in regard to the population of the island is that 
the far reaching slopes of Mount Etna are far more densely peopled 
than any other agricultural region of Sicily or of Italy. While the 
mean population of the rest of Sicily is 88, and that of Italy 90, 
to the square kilometre, that of Mount Etna numbers 450, forming 
an abiding place of 300,000 of the Sicilian people, dwelling in two 
cities and sixty-three villages. If we be asked the reason for this, 
the answer will be that it is due to the great fertility given the soil 
by the disintegrated lava. Here is an attraction to an agricultural 
community that sets aside the threat of the fire-vomiting mountain, 
and induces the peasantry to dare the peril of an occasional outpour 
of destroying lava for the benefits which the lava-coated mass yields 
them. 

The island is in a very large degree an agricultural one, its one 
other important industry being the mining of sulphur, the most 
valuable mineral product of the island. There are about 300 mines 



THE BOOT OF TTALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 23 

in operation, nearly all the sulphur being exported. Rock salt is 
another mineral of some value, about 3,000 tons being excavated 
yearly,. 

THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 

Let us now say something of the people of the island and their 
mode of life. In view of the fact that Sicily has been held at times 
by the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Saracens, the 
Normans, the Spaniards, and other peoples, its population is neces- 
sarily somewhat conglomerate. The Greek element prevails in the 
east and the Arab in the west, while the dialect of the Lombards 
survives in parts of the interior. Despite his poverty and his hard 
labor, the wretched character of his home and his unpalatable food 
— which consists of black bread, onions, beans, herbs, prickly pears, 
bitter cheese and weak wine, with rarely a taste of meat — the 
Sicilian is good humored and obliging, manly and independent. 
The laborers, whose wages range from is. to 2s. a day, live in dirty, 
one-roomed houses, which they share with their pigs and poultry, 
with dilapidated tile roofs through which the smoke goes out and 
the rain comes in; the bed, when possible, being sheltered with a 
strip of matting. The craftsmen have as dirty houses, though these 
have tiled floors and better furniture. As for the well-to-do inhabit- 
ants of the island, they live in the cities, there being no country 
gentlemen in Sicily, nor any houses for them. Even market-towns 
are unknown, though at times fairs are held. 

We have given the better side of the Sicilian peasantry; now 
their worse side must be mentioned. The peasant is cunning and 
deceitful, is very cruel to animals, and seems natively vindictive and 
treacherous- Robberies and thefts are frequent, and for homicides 



24 THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 

Sicily is one of the worst countries in Europe. Brigandage on a 
large scale, formerly common, has been put down, though bands of 
highwaymen still at times appear. The secret and lavv^-defying 
society of the Maffia continues to exist, though much reduced in 
numbers and importance, and the vendetta is apt to take the place 
of legal methods of punishment. This state of affairs is fostered by 
the ignorance of the people, three-foiirths of whom can neither read 
nor write. Devout they are, in their way, but their religion con- 
sists largely of superstition. 

CALABRIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 

Crossing now the Straits of Messina to the near by Italian 
province of Calabria, the foot of the Italian boot, a district which, 
near the Strait, severely felt the desolating effect of the earthquake, 
we find ourselves among a people not unlike the Sicilians. Proud, 
fiery and revengeful, they were long known as among the fiercest 
of banditti, and were so warlike and courageous that they resisted the 
armies of Napoleon until after all the rest of Italy had been subdued, 
not being finally quelled until 1810. 

Calabria has an area of 6,600 square miles, it being somewhat 
larger than Sicily. Long and narrow, theAppenines form its back- 
bone throughout, traversing its 160 miles of length; forests of oak, 
beech, and chestnut clothing their sides, while pine crowns their 
higher peaks. Calabria possesses only small streams, but these 
give fertility to the valleys between the hills, which afford rich 
pasture to the flocks and herds, and to the plains, the soil of which 
is very rich. 

Here grow wheat, rice, cotton, saffron, liquorice, sugar-cane, 
and other useful plants, also such fruits as the orange, lemon, olive, 



THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 25 

fig, and mulberry, while the tunny and anchovy fisheries of the coast 
are of importance. The province is also well supplied with minerals, 
including iron, tin, silver, lead, alabaster, marble, and graphite. 

The warmth of the climate and the extreme fertility of the soil 
are not conducive to progress among the people, and agriculture is 
in a very rude and barbarous condition, the people, as may be sup- 
posed from this, being ignorant and unenterprising. 

SUNNY SICILY. 

Passing from its material to its picturesque aspects, the Sicilian 
isle is one of manifold attractions. It may well be called Sunny 
Sicily, the sun shining for some three hundred days in the year, and 
throwing a brilliance over land and water alike that makes this isle 
a paradise for the artist and the lover of rich color and glowing 
landscape effects. 

The life of the Sicilian is one of endless warmth, brilliant sun- 
shine, blue skies, lovely flowers, gleaming waters. The sea every- 
where envelopes the island and shines like a mirror through most 
of the year. All who visit that little isle at the toe of Italy find 
themselves fettered by its charms. Goethe wrote of it long ago: 
"Italy without Sicily leaves no image in the soul; here is the key of 
all." And many to-day yield to the glamour which took the great 
poet captive. Though so near Europe the vegetation of Sicily re- 
sembles that of warmer climes, semi-tropic plants and fruits abound- 
ing, while the soil yields two crops a year. 

Everywhere in the northeast the giant bulk of Etna dominates 
the scene. From Reggio, on the opposite coast of Calabria, the snow- 
clad peak may be seen lifting its majestic head high above the fruit 
trees on its slope and the blue waters at its feet. A traveller thus 



26 THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 

gives the normal impression from this point: 'The first view of the 
volcano was enchanting. The day was glorious, and the bright 
sunlight, the glistening snow, the clear blue-green water were all 
like a dream." It is the same everywhere. The traveller quoted thus 
speaks of Palermo, over the charm of whose bay many writers have 
raved: 

"The bay is a fine sweep, and Mount Pelligrino is a handsome 
finish, but the bay is hardly as beautiful as Naples and the rock is 
not so imposing as Gibraltar or Quebec. But the wonderful color- 
charm prevalent in Sicily is manifest in Palermo; a certain quality 
of atmosphere gives clearness and haze by turns, and each in turn 
gains something more beautiful in tone than its predecessor. It is 
verily an artist's paradise, a paint-box riddle. Then, of course, one 
of its chief charms is the street life. Here again the artistic eye 
revels — the side-alleys are a kaleidoscope of queer scenes."* 

Everywhere and at all seasons scenic effects of this kind may be 
looked for. In January, when snow and ice reign at the North, here 
the flowers open, the perfume of blossoms is in the air, the island is 
full of color and sweet smells. We might go on, lapsing into 
ecstasies over the scenic beauty of this lovely Mediterranean isle, 
but one more quotation from a sight-seer must suffice : 

"There before us stood Sciacca straggling up the hill-side, grey 
and white in the sunshine, with pretty-colored tiled domes. Below 
was that turquoise-blue opalescent sea so often observed around 
Sicily, and behind, on a steep, hilly summit, stood the monastery of 
Monte San Cologero, rising 1,300 feet from the sea below. It 
really was a wonderful panorama. The day was lovely, lights 
sparkled on the white houses, while the dark cypress and grey olives, 

* " Sunny Sicily," by Mrs. Alice Tweedie. 



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THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 27 

the white ahiiond blossom and bhie-grey ohve, made a perfect land- 
scape, with goat-herds wandering along the roadside to add pictu- 
resquesness to the scene." 

ANIMAL LIFE IN SICILY. 

rSpeaking of the goat-herds, we are led to say something about 
the animal life of Sicily, and especially about the goat, that ubiquit- 
ous tenant of hill and plain. The goat is to be seen everywhere. 
No country can surpass Sicily, few equal it, in numbers of these 
animals. We may see them by the thousands. Wherever we go 
they intrude their forms as part of the landscape. They forage for 
themselves, it costing next to nothing to keep them. Anything of 
food character — bits of lemon or orange peal, strips of sea-weed, 
straggling blades of grass — serve their turn. They are very fond 
of the prickly pear, — when it is cut up for them, — it is too hard and 
spiny for them to attack it when growing. 

Whole herds of goats are owned by some, often a single one by 
others. This is sent off in charge of a child every morning to 
browse by the roadside and brought home at evening to be milked, 
and often to sleep with the family. Butter, milk and cheese from 
this animal are to be had anywhere, and even in the large cities the 
goats are driven through the streets and their milk sold to any one 
who comes with a vessel to receive it. 

Cows are also driven through the streets for the same purpose, 
their owner calling out that milk is for sale — though this is con- 
sidered inferior to that of the goat. The cow heralds her approach 
by a bell around her neck. These animals wear wooden collars, six 
to eight inches wide, on which are painted quaint religious pictures. 
Sheep are also raised in numbers, and may be seen daily following 
the shepherds along the roads. 



28 THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 

SICILY IN ITS HISTORIC ASPECT. 

Sicily has long lain in the path of the conqueror and has for 
ages been the prize of the most enterprising. The north coast looks 
toward Italy and was overrun by the Romans; the southeast coast 
faces Greece and became the prey of Greek wanderers ; the southwest 
invited the Moors and Saracens from Tunis, and they occupied Sicily 
for two centuries. 

Going back to the remote times we are told of the fabulous 
Cyclopes as the first inhabitants of the island. The earliest known 
people there were the Sikans, and in the north were Sikels, a people 
from Italy. Coming to distinctly historic times we find the sea- 
going Phoenicians in the island, founding cities represented by the 
modern Palermo and Solanto. But for the real settlers and civil- 
izers of Sicily we must look to the Greeks, the founders of many 
cities, such as Messina, Syracuse, Catania, Agrigentum, and vari- 
ous others. These cities, long independent, in time fell under the 
rule of ambitious individuals, of whom Gelon in 485 B. C. trans- 
ferred the seat of government from Gela to Syracuse, which for 
many centuries afterward was the chief city of the island. 

Soon from Carthage, the great African seat of commerce, came 
settlers of a new race, battling with the Greeks. Of early important 
events were the battle of Himera, in which Gelon won a great victory 
over Hamilcar of Carthage, and the fatal expedition of an Athenian 
fleet to Syracuse in 415 B. C, which led to the fall of Athens as the 
great power in Greece. 

The next events of interest were the invasion of Sicily by the 
first Hannibal, who destroyed various cities and founded Lilybseum ; 
and the reign of Dionysius the Tyrant (405-367 B. C), who fought 
Carthage in four wars, defeated her armies, and invaded Italy. 



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THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 29 

This struggle between the Greeks and the Carthaginians continued 
until Rome came into the field as the great enemy of Carthage, the 
wars of these two great cities beginning on the soil of Sicily. The 
Roman invasion ended in 210 B. C, the whole island then becoming 
a province of Rome, and remaining so for centuries afterward. 

When the Roman Empire fell, the Vandals, under Genseric, 
were the first of the barbarian hordes to invade and occupy the 
island (440 A. D.). In 535 it was taken by Behsarius, an able 
general of the Eastern Empire, and remained under the sole rule of 
Constantinople until 827 A. D., when the Saracens of northern 
Africa made their first invasion. For more than a century their 
work of conquest continued. Syracuse was taken by them in 877, 
and the last stronghold, Rametta, in 965, and for nearly a hundred 
years later no one questioned their dominion. 

In 1038 the emperor at Constantinople sent George Maniakes, 
with an army in which were many Normans, to attempt the rec'on- 
quest of Sicily. Various towns were taken, the Normans cam.e to 
the front in the conflict, and at length the whole island fell into their 
hands, Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger ruling in 1090. A 
second Roger, son of the first, was crowned in 11 30 as the first king 
of Sicily, and proved himself a great monarch. Christianity was 
introduced by him, and for many years he ruled wisely and well. 

The crown fell to the German emperor, Henry VI, in 1194, and 
in 1 197 to his son Frederick IL, who ruled the whole empire from his 
throne in Sicily. In 1264, Charles, Count of Anjou, was made 
king, and Sicily fell under French control. It was handled in a 
manner that exasperated the Sicilians, and in 1282 they revolted in 
the bloody "Sicilian Vespers," in which they massacred every French 
man, woman and child in Palermo. 



30 THE BOOT OF ITALY AND BEAUTIFUL SICILY 

Other changes took place in Sicilian rule, Spain eventually 
gaining control, and holding it for centuries. The last important 
political event was when Garibaldi invaded the island in i860, took 
Palermo, and opened the way for Sicily to be added to the new king- 
dom of Italy. There it is likely long to remain. 

Nothing has been said above of the convulsions of nature to 
which Sicily is subject, the occasional destructive explosions of 
Mount Etna, and the more frequent ruinous earthquakes, of which 
the island has had many terrible visitations. Chief among these 
may be named the one which destroyed Catania in 11 70, burying 
15,000 of its inhabitants in the ruins, and that of 1693, which ruined 
fifty-four towns and 300 villages, with the loss of more than 100,000 
lives. To these must now be added the frightful one of 1908, the 
ravages of which are fully described in the following chapters. It 
is well to say here that the latter had a political significance in the 
self-sacrificing devotion of the monarch of Italy to the sufferers of 
Messina, which aided greatly in cementing the union between Italy 
and Sicily, making it a union of hearts as well as of states, of sym- 
pathetic feeling as well as of poHtical expediency. 



CHAPTER II. 

Greek Mythology and the Volcanoes of Sicily. 
Etna and Stromboli, Vulcan's Fiery Workshops. 

MYTHOLOGY has its place in the beautiful Sicilian isle as 
in all the lands settled by men of the Grecian race. This 
island early attracted the attention of the sea-wandering 
Greeks, and they transferred to it many of the adventures of their 
deities, especially the giant early ones, those of vast and brutal power. 
We cannot deal with the island without some reference to this 
feature of its traditional lore, and we do this in confidence that 
readers will find something to attract them in the monstrous doings 
of the mighty earb, gods. 

The leading gods of Sicily are the gods of force, the deific 
representatives of the tumultuous elemental powers. It was to the 
vast power of Etna that the poets directed their attention, and in 
their fancy this vast, flaming pile, with its earthquaking accom- 
paniments, was a fitting prison-house for the giant Typhon or 
Enceladus, the monstrous son of the Earth and Tartarus, of the 
terrestrial and the demonic powers. A gristly monster was this huge 
creature of the elements. A hundred dragons' heads whirled in 
snaky threat from his vast frame, and he dared rebel against heaven 
itself. In the mighty war that followed Zeus, the king of the gods, 
overcame this monster rebel and imprisoned him under the mighty 
bulk of Etna. Here he has ever since lain, if we may credit the 

(31) 



32 GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 

fables of the poets, groaning in his helpless fury until his roaring 
voice pours in thunder from the crater's mouth. When he breathes 
his fiery breath forms the flames of the volcanic terror. And more 
terrible is he when he turns on his rocky couch, for then the whole 
earth above him is lifted and desolating earthquakes rock the island. 

Pindar, the famed Greek poet, speaks of him in his first Pythian 
Ode, written when King Hiero of Sicily won in the chariot race of 
474 B. C. Thus he sings of Typhon : "He is fast bound by a pillar 
of the sky, even by snowy Etna, nursing the whole year's length 
her dazzling snow. Whereout pure springs of unapproachable fire 
are vomited from the inmost depths ; in the daytime the lava streams 
pour forth a lurid rush of smoke, but in the darkness a red, rolling 
flame sweepeth rocks with uproar to the wide, deep sea." 

Etna is also famed as the home of another god, one of less 
monstrous attributes, the Greek Hephaestus, known to us more 
familiarly by his Roman name of Vulcan. This deity, one of the 
court of the gods on Mount Olympus, was the "Tubal-cain" of 
heathen mythology, the fire-god, the blacksmith of the deities. The 
son of Zeus, he was flung from heaven by his great father in a 
moment of rage and was lamed by his fall. This story of the fall 
of fire doubtless represents the lightning flash in its descent from the 
clouds to the earth. From this time we find Vulcan as a terrestrial 
deity, the mighty blacksmith of the gods, setting up his great forge 
in the profound depths of Etna, where the sound of his hammer is 
still to be heard, as he forges the weapons of the gods. 

While Etna is thus in mythology the prison of a chained giant 
and the workshop of a swart and sooty god, there are other deific 
beings who inhabit its depths. These are the Cyclopes, who worked 
as slaves of Vulcan at his forge in the heart of the burning moun- 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 33 

tains, not only Etna, but also Stromboli and Lemnos, forging out 
thunderbolts for Zeus or Jupiter. Sons of Uranus, and belonging 
to the race of the Titans, their father, in dread of their enormous 
strength, confined them in the centre of the earth, but in the wars 
between the gods and the Titans, Zeus set them free and furnished 
them with thunderbolts to aid him in the mighty struggle. Their 
names, Brontes, Steropes, and Arges, indicate the noise and flash of 
a volcanic eruption. 

Homer gives us another legend of the Cyclopes, also connected 
with Sicily. In the "Odyssey" we find them as a wild and impish 
race of giants, dwelling on the sea coast of that island; while 
Hesiod tells us that they were one-eyed, having a single eye in the 
middle of the forehead. It was with Polyphemus, the most celebrated 
of this giant race, that Ulysses had his famous adventure. When he 
landed in Sicily, he found this huge giant dwelling in a cave, which 
he entered with twelve of his companions. Polyphemus seized six 
of these wanderers and consumed them at a single meal. Fearing 
for himself and the other six the shrewd Greek placated the giant, 
induced him to drink wine until he fell into a drunken slumber, then 
bored out his one eye with a burning pole and, escaping with the aid 
of a cunning device from his cave, he took to his ships, which barely 
escaped from the huge rocks which the blind and raging giant flung 
after the Greeks in their flight. 

There is a natural origin for this mythological story. It is 
supposed that the Cyclopes may represent the many small craters 
on the slopes of Etna, their single eye being the single fiery vent of 
the crater, while the stones which Polyphemus hurled after the flee- 
ing Greeks were probably those vomited forth by the volcano itself. 

The famous voyage of Ulysses — the Odysseus of Greek legend 



34 GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 

— as set forth in Homer s noble epic poem, the "Odyssey," has much 
to do with Sicily, and its stories of that island are of so much mytho- 
logical interest that we feel impelled to add to the tale of the Cyclopes 
that of the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, especially as these had 
their abiding place in the immediate vicinity of the recently wrecked 
Messina. 

These sea perils remain to-day, but shorn of their early terrors. 
To our sober geographers they are two "races" or rapids in the 
Straits of Messina, arising from the flow of opposing currents 
through the narrow channel, Scylla being the one near the Italian, 
Charybdis that near the Sicilian coast. The dangers of these 
"races" have been greatly exaggerated. In old times, when small, 
open vessels preceded the ships of modern times, they were so greatly 
feared by seamen as to be converted by the poets into two frightful 
monsters, and to give rise to the proverbial "To shun Charybdis and 
fall into Scylla." With this needful preliminary, we will proceed 
with Homer's story of the adventures of Ulysses. 

In the poetic version, Scylla and Charybdis were two sea-mon- 
sters of frightful mien, dwelling on the opposite sides of the narrow 
strait, and taking deadly toll from every seaman's craft that passed. 
Scylla was a horrid creature, with twelve feet and six long necks 
and mouths, capable of reaching far out and down from the rock- 
cave in which she dwelt. In each mouth were three rows of sharp 
teeth, and while awaiting her prey she barked like a dog. Charybdis 
dwelt on the other side, under a cliff on which grew a single, pro- 
truding fig tree. Thrice each day she sucked the waters of the sea 
down into her capacious maw and thrice threw them up again — 
this being the poets' picture of a whirlpool. 

The rock of Scylla was fabled to be a sharp peak, so high that 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 35 

its head was lost in the clouds, its surface so smooth and polished 
that no one could climb it, even if possessed of twenty feet. In its 
mid-height, beyond the utmost arrow flight, lay the cave of Scylla, 
from which she barked with hideous voice and stretched out her 
heads in search of prey. So fierce and bold were these savages of 
the deep that Neptune himself could not save mariners from their 
assaults. When Ulysses found it necessary to pass the straits, 
Circe, the magic sorceress, advised him to hug the shore on Scylla's 
side and dare her fury rather than to have ship and crew sucked into 
the yawning jaws of the opposite monster. 

Ulysses twice passed through the perils of the strait, once with 
his vessel and crew, the second time floating back on the wrecked 
timbers of his craft. On the first passage Scylla reached down her 
long necks and seized six of the seamen, one in each dreadful mouth. 
On his return, a lone passenger on the floating hull of his vessel, he 
was carried past Charybdis, who sucked in the waters and their float- 
ing freight, Ulysses saving himself by seizing a bough of the fig 
tree that grew above. Here he hung with his feet dangling in the 
air until the monster vomited forth again the drunk-in sea, with its 
floating raft. On this Ulysses let himself fall and was borne in 
safety away. 

This was not the only adventure of the wanderers in this region. 
After passing Scylla they landed on the island Thrinacia (Sicily), 
on which feed the sacred oxen of the sun. Some of these cattle were 
killed and eaten by the famished Greeks. For this act of sacrilege 
they were doomed never to see Greece again, their vessel was 
wrecked, and Ulysses escaped alone by daring the perils of Charyb- 
dis as above narrated. 

Here, too, or in this vicinity, the Greek hero had his famous 



36 GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 

adventure with the Sirens. These mythical beings sang so sweetly 
as to enchant all who heard them. They dwelt on an island near the 
Italian coast, which may well have been one of those in the Sicilian 
seas, and sat in a meadow near the shore, alluring with their voices 
all who sailed past. He who listened to their song forgot his home 
and all he held dear and remained with these enchanters until he 
perished or became brutalized. 

Ulysses, with his usual shrewdness, managed to hear their sweet 
song and escape its fatal effect. Making his sailors plug up their 
ears so that they could hear nothing, and forbidding them to pay any 
heed to his gestures or demands, he bade them to tie him to the mast 
of the ship. While passing the isle, the song of the Sirens allured 
him as it had done many victims before, but his frantic gestures to 
be freed had no effect upon the crew, and he escaped the wiles of the 
singing enchantresses. 

For another adventure of Ulysses we must seek the Lipari or 
Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily in its Messinian quarter. Here are 
the ever-burning Stromboli and the burned-out Vulcano. Of old 
there was more than this, if we may credit Homer, for here dwelt 
Aeolus, the god or ruler of the winds. Some of the old writers 
place his home in Stromboli, others in Lipari, while still others find 
him a place of residence in Rhegium, Italy — now the earthquake 
ruined Reggio. 

This deity, the son of one of the gods, had all the winds in his 
care, confining them in a vast cavern. In the "Odyssey" he is 
spoken of as the king of the Aeolian Islands, to whom Jupiter had 
given the care of the winds, to let them out or confine them at his 
will. Friendly to Ulysses, he gave the wandering hero all the 
adverse winds tied up in a bag, leaving loose only the favoring 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 37 

breezes. Of course, as happens in all such cases, meddlers opened 
the bag and the storm winds got abroad. 

For a vivid description of the country of the winds, and of their 
prison, constructed of high mountains, whence they could issue only 
on the permission of Aeolus, we may quote the following passage 
from Virgil's Aeneid," as translated by Corrington. 

"Here Aeolus, in cavern vast. 
With bolt and barrier fetters fast 
Rebellious storm and howling blast. 
They with the rocks' reverberant roar 
Chafe blustering round their prison door; 
He, throned on high, the sceptre sways. 
Controls their moods, their wrath allays. 
Break but that sceptre, sea and land. 

And heaven's etherial deep. 
Before them they would whirl like sand. 

And through the void air sweep." 

It may seem to our readers that Ulysses had most of his adven- 
tures in or about Sicily. He certainly did find that island and its 
vicinity strangely inhabited. Since his day the one-eyed Cyclopes, 
the man-eating monsters of the Strait, Aeolus the wind god, the 
alluring Sirens, and all that mythical crew, have vanished, and with 
them the Lotophagi or lotus-eaters. These, it is true, probably made 
their home on the coast of Africa, though Homer's account might 
apply to Sicily. Ulysses visited them with his companions, who 
found the sweetness of the lotus fruit as enchanting as the song of 
the Sirens, those who ate of it losing all desire to return home and 
even forgetting that they had any other home. This feeling of 



38 GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 

happy and listless content has been beautifully delineated in Tenny- 
son's poem, 'The Lotus Eaters." As usual, Ulysses escaped the 
charm. 

There are other myths connected with Sicily, besides those given 
by Homer, an interesting one being that of the loves of Acis and 
Galatea. Acis was a son of Faunus, the Roman god of fields and 
shepherds. A handsome youth, he loved the nymph Galatea, who 
returned his love, and in so doing awakened the jealousy of another 
lover, the huge Polyphemus. Furious with rage at his rival, the 
one-eyed Cyclop crushed the lover with a huge rock. From under 
this flowed his blood, which was changed by the nymph into the 
river which bore his name ; now known as Fiume di Jaci. 

We now come to the most interesting and famous of the myths 
connected with Sicily, that of the goddess Ceres and her daughter 
Proserpine — the Demeter or Persephone of the Greeks. The 
Greeks placed the scene of this myth in the Nysian plain, in Asia, but 
the Latin poets made Enna, in Sicily, the scene of the abduction of 
the maiden goddess. This beautiful maiden was the daughter of 
Jupiter and Ceres, the latter the earth goddess, the patroness of 
agriculture and fruits. 

The myth runs as follows: While Proserpine, with her girl 
companions, was gathering flowers in the meadows of Enna, she was 
attracted by a splendid flower, which bloomed magically before her. 
Stooping to pluck it, the earth opened and, drawn by immortal steeds, 
Pluto, the dark god of the nether world, rose from the yawning 
chasm. Seizing the terrified girl, who called in vain on her father 
for aid, he bore her in his golden chariot to the gloomy realm over 
which he reigned. 

In distraction at the loss of her daughter, Ceres sought her with 



GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 39 

blazing torches in all parts of the world and in her passionate search 
for her daughter lighted the fires of Etna. Fnally Helios, the god of 
the sun, told the tale of the abduction to the distracted mother, and 
Ceres, burning with anger, left the abode of the gods upon Olympus 
and descended to dwell among men. She also withdrew her bounty 
from the soil and the crops withered, the fruits shrunk, and men were 
threatened with famine. To bring back fruitfulness to the earth 
Jupiter sent his messenger to Pluto's realm with orders to the latter 
to restore the abducted daughter of Ceres. 

Before letting her go, Pluto induced her to eat part of a pome- 
granate with him, and this held a charm that compelled her to spend 
a third of the year in her husband's gloomy realm, returning to her 
mother for the remainder of the year. Later writers say that she 
spent half of her time in Hades, the other half on earth. There can 
be little doubt that this beautiful myth is a representation of the 
revival of the earth in spring after the gloom of the winter. Its 
appropriateness to our purpose lies in the fact that Enna in Sicily 
is the scene of the story, as told by the Roman poets, and that Ceres 
wandered over the Sicilian hills with her torch in the search for her 
lost daughter. 

To the early Greek mariners, Sicily lay in the remote regions of 
the west, and became to them a region of such wonders as those 
we have detailed. It was long to the Greeks what the Spanish 
Main was to the rovers and buccaneers of a later date — a land for 
piratical incursior^. The Sicels were slaveholders, and if we return 
to the ''Odyssey," we find the suitors of Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, 
advising her son Telemachus to seize his undesirable guests and sell 
them as slaves to the Sicels, who would pay a good price for them. 
Among these guests was his own father in disguise. All readers of 



40 GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND THE VOLCANOES OF SICILY 

the "Odyssey" will know the prompt and effective way in which 
Ulysses retaliated on the suitors, who had taken advantage of his 
long absence to annoy his wife with their claims for her hand. As the 
story goes, the faithful Penelope evaded their importunate demands 
by promising to accept one of them when she had finished a shroud 
for the aged Laertes, the father of Ulysses. By ravelling out at 
night what she had woven by day, she managed to postpone her 
answer until the return of the wanderer. 

It will appear from the above narration that Sicily was as much 
a home for the creations of mythology as Greece itself, and especially 
^ for its darker and more terrible forms. These the imagination of 
the poets wove into a network of horrors which seem strangely out of 
consonance with the Sicily of to-day, but which doubtless had their 
origin in the terrific outbursts of its fiery mountain, its earthquaking 
tremors, and the difficulty and danger of naVigating the Straits 
of Messina by the small craft of that early age. 




Copyright, 1909, by Press Publishing Co., New York World. 

MESSINA'S SHATTERED TENEMENTS. 
This is one of the poorer tenement houses after the earthquake and tidal 
wave. The walls were stripped from this row of houses. 




Copyright, 1909, by Press Publishing Co., New York World. 

SEARCHING RUINED HOMES AT MESSINA. 

A guard stands in the foreground, while his fellow-soldiers are trying to 

locate possible survivors who may be buried among the debris. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Historic Cities of Sicily. Their Settlement by 

the Ancient Greeks and Carthaginians 

and Their Later Annals. 

FAMOUS cities dot the coast of Sicily, some of them being 
among the most ancient of cities, coming down to us from that 
remote and largely legendary time when Greece was just 
making its young force felt in distant realms, and Carthage, the 
greatest of the colonies of old Tyre, was winning the rank of the 
greatest of commercial cities, the mistress of the Mediterranean. 
Most renowned in history of these cities is Syracuse, now shrunk in 
population to some 32,000, yet once playing a large part in the 
world's annals. Equally ancient, and now more important, is Mes- 
sina, the chief seat of the great disaster with which we are here 
specially concerned. This city, with its 150,000 population, is of 
the same size as Catania, but is largely exceeded by the great mart 
of Palermo, with a population of 310,000. Messina, as the centre 
of present interest, will be dealt with specially in the next chapter, 
yet some description of the other leading cities will be of interest 
and importance in this place;. 

Syracuse, the chief Greek city of ancient Sicily, had a checkered 
career of conquest, reconquest, growth, importance, and decay, and 
in one of its sieges was directly concerned with one of the chief 
events of ancient Greece, the fall of Athens from its proud supremacy 

(41) 



42 THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

among the Greek cities. It was one of the earHest Greek settlements 
upon the island. There are various legends about its origin, but it 
is held as certain that it was founded about the year 735 B. C,, by 
Archias of Corinth, as part of a joint enterprise with Corcyra. He 
found, however, a Phoenician settlement already there. 

The first settlement was made on a small island called Ortygia, 
separated from the coast by a very narrow channel. It is a fact of 
some interest that Syracuse, after its 2000 years of existence, during 
which it spread to great size and importance, is to-day confined to 
its original site on the island of Ortygia, with about two and a half 
miles of circumference. A bridge formerly crossed the narrow 
channel between mainland and island, and this has now given way 
to a road, or rather a passage too wide for a road, the Plemmyrium of 
ancient times. Ortygia, therefore, is no longer an island, but a 
peninsula. 

Of the early history of Syracuse we know very little, but after 
the beginning of the fifth century B. C. it grew rapidly into impor- 
tance. Under the rule of Gelon, famous for his victory over the 
Carthaginians, it spread to the mainland, Ortygia remaining the 
inner city, the stronghold of the ruler. In those days the island was 
too small to contain the whole population, and the great tombs, the 
Greek theatre, the Roman amphitheatre, and other structures of 
importance were built on the mainland. 

The victory spoken of, that of Himera in 480 B. C, put an end 
to Carthaginian supremacy, and the great era of Greek sway in 
Sicily began. Gradually three populous quarters were added to 
the city, which became one of the great cities of ancient days, its 
pubHc edifices including a temple of Zeus Olympias, a splendid 
statue of Sappho, the Greek poetess, and fine monuments to Tim- 
oleon and Dionysius. 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 43 

Hiero, who succeeded Gelon, did much to foster art and civiHza- 
tion, and men of genius, such as the dramatist Aeschylus, the poet 
Pindar, and others, dwelt for a time under his favoring rule. At a 
later period Sicily enjoyed a free and democratic government, and 
during this period the celebrated siege by the Athenians, above 
alluded to, took place (415-414 B. C). 

The story of this famous contest and its direful results is far 
too long to be given here. It must suffice to say that a fierce assault 
ended in a complete defeat of the Athenians and the closing of the 
mouth of the harbor by a line of Syracuse ships, so as to prevent 
the escape of the Greek fleet. A terrible engagement ensued, in 
which the one hundred and ten Athenian ships remaining were 
reduced to sixty, and the sailors, their spirit broken, refused to 
attempt to cut their way through the Syracusan line and determined 
to land and make their way through Sicily. It was a wretched and 
hopeless expedient. The Athenian army, 40,000 in number, largely 
destitute of provisions, and many of the men sick or wounded, were 
destined to ill fate. Cut off in their march and surrounded by supe- 
rior forces, they fought until, at the end of the sixth day, but 9,000 of 
the 40,000 remained. Then came the surrender and the wretched 
fate of these captives, who were treated with shameful inhumanity 
by the Syracusan victors. Near the city were deep stone quarries 
into which the greater part of the prisoners were lowered, and left 
in that confined space, lying upon one another without the least 
protection or convenience. 

Escape was impossible, and for food each received daily a 
ration of one pint of wheat bread and half a pint of water, not half 
enough to save them from hunger and thirst, while they were daily 
taunted with the gibes of the Syracusan populace, who looked down 



44 THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

on them from above. Many of them speedily died, the captors not 
taking the trouble to remove the decaying corpses. In this terrible 
prison they remained for seventy days, when all were removed and 
sold for slaves except the native Athenians and the few Italian ana 
Sicilian Greeks, who were left in the wretched hole. What became 
of them in the end we are not told. As regards Athens, it was so 
weakened by the loss of this large army of its best warriors and of 
its large fleet, that it fell before the assault of Sparta and lost its 
proud supremacy in Greece. 

Nine years after this dire event the democratic government of 
Sicily was overthrown by a tyrant named Dionysius, who ruled the 
people with an iron hand, but during his forty years' reign added 
greatly to the strength and importance of the city, surrounding it 
with fortifications and constructing large docks^. His war with 
Carthage in 397 B. C., added greatly to the renown of the city. 

The noblest of all the rulers of Sicily was Timoleon, a Greek 
of Corinth, who went to that island in 344 B. C, to endeavor to 
restore the liberty of the Greek cities and drive out the Carthagin- 
ians. He landed, overthrew Hicetas, one of the tyrants, and in the 
following year made himself master of Syracuse. Hicetas induced 
Carthage to send a large army into the island, but Timoleon met 
this force with 12,000 men, only one-seventh of its number, and 
routed it completely, the gods — or the weather — aiding him by 
driving a blinding storm of hail into the faces of the enemy. Timo- 
leon afterward drove out all the tyrants and gave free government 
to all the Greek cities on the island. Then, with a moderation that 
has had few examples in history, he gave up all his power and 
authority and settled as a private citizen in Syracuse, enjoying the 
love and admiration of the whole Greek world until his death, six 
years after his landing on the island. 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 45 

Twenty years later the despotism was restored by a successful 
soldier and continued for more than a century, when Syracuse fell 
a prey to the growing power of Rome. The story of the siege 
(214-212 B. C.) is famous for the aid given by the great mathema- 
tician Archimedes in the defense of the city. During the siege by 
the Romans this celebrated scientist and engineer almost wore out the 
patience of Rome by his ingenuity in defense. He constructed a 
number of great machines for destroying the Roman works and 
ships, and the improbable story is told of his setting fire to the 
Roman fleet by the aid of mirrors. 

The dramatic part of his story is the following: When, at 
length, the Romans took the city by surprise, their general was very 
anxious to save the life of the great mathematician, whose renown 
had spread throughout the civilized world. The tradition relates 
that when the Romans rushed in Archimedes, heedless of danger, 
was seated in the public square in deep thought, a series of geomet- 
rical figures being drawn around him in the sand. Seeing a Roman 
soldier rushing upon him, sword in hand, he called out to him not 
to spoil the circle. But the rude soldier cut him down. 

Such is the early history of Syracuse. Under the Roman rule 
its importance fell away and it slowly declined, though its handsome 
public building and its artistic and intellectual culture made it for 
centuries still the foremost city of Sicily. Its fate came in 878 
A. D., when the Saracens, who had invaded the island, captured 
this great city, which they pillaged and burned, leaving it a mass 
of ruins. From this misfortune it never recovered, sinking into 
complete decay. To-day it is a slow, sleepy, ugly and dirty town, 
without even the attraction of a picturesque situation, and with little 
trace of its ancient glory, beyond its Greek theatre, which is the 



46 THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

largest and most important in Sicily, and some other relics of its 
storied past. No one entering it to-day would dream that it had 
ever been, as Cicero describes it, "the largest of Greek and the most 
beautiful of all cities." 

A feature of the past which still remains is the famous fountain 
of Arethusa, which, though lying within a few feet of the sea-shore, 
long gave forth the purest and sweetest of waters. This is no longer 
the case, for an earthquake destroyed its purity and the water is 
now brackish. Yet about this fountain centres a pretty mytho- 
logical legend, which is well worth telling. Thus it runs : 

There was a river god Alpheus, the deity of the Alpheus river, 
the chief stream of Peloponnesus. In its waters bathed the nymph 
Arethusa, and was seen by the god of the stream, who loved and 
wooed her so ardently, that she, who did not return his love, sought 
desperately to escape his pursuit. In her extremity she prayed to 
Artemis, who changed her into a fountain, and opened a passage 
for her under the sea to the Sicilian isle of Ortygia. The river 
pursued her, without mingling its waters with the sea, and came to 
the surface again in the spring which bubbles up by the island shore, 
close to the fountain of Arethusa. 

Much space has here been given to Syracuse, not from any 
importance which it now possesses, but from its greatness in the past, 
when it was the capital of the monarchs of Sicily, its history being 
largely that of the island,. It was a favorite place of residence or 
visit for some of the famous Greek writers, such as Aeschylus and 
Pindar, above named, and also Plato, who dwelt there long enough 
to offend the tyrant Dionysius by his freedom of speech, who at first 
threatened his life and afterward sold him as a slave. He visited 
Syracuse twice more, during the reign of the younger Dionysius. 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 47 

In addition to these visitors, Syracuse had the honor of being 
the birthplace of the most famous pastoral poet of antiquity, the 
renowned Theocritus, whose splendid idyls are among the choicest 
treasures of the poetic world. It was the charm of rural Hfe in rare 
Sicily that Theocritus sang, and with a richness and sweetness that 
remain unsurpassed. It is in such glimpses as this that our poet 
pictures for us the charm of his native land : 

"There we lay 
Half-buried in a world of fragrant reed 
And fresh-cut vine leaves; who so glad as we; 
A wealth of elm and poplar shook o'erhead ; 
Hard by, a sacred spring flowed gurgling on 
From the Nymph's grot, and in the sombre boughs 
The sweet cicada chirped laboriously. 
Hid in the thick thorn-bushes far away 
The treef rog's note was heard ; the crested lark 
Sang with the goldfinch ; turtles made their moan, 
And o'er the fountain hung the gilded bee. 
All of rich summer smacked, of autumn all ; 
Pears at our feet, and apples at our side 
Rolled in luxuriance; branches on the ground 
Sprawled, overweighted with damsons; while we brushed 
From the cask's head the crust of four long years." 

In the records of Sicily we find the histories of many other 
towns and cities of ancient fame, from Naxos, settled as long ago as 
735 B. C. Of these, we must confine our descriptions to a few of the 
more important, and must leave Messina, from its present thrilling 
interest, for a separate chapter. 

Chief among the Sicilian cities of the present day is Palermo, 
an active seaport and commercial centre of its northwest corner. 



48 THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

Formerly the capital of the island, its population of 310,000 raises 
it to the rank of the fifth city of Italy in numbers, though scarcely 
so in fame. It occupies a picturesque site, at the mouth of a fertile 
valley called the Conca doro ("Golden Shell"), with mountains in its 
rear and a beautiful bay in its front. It has handsome streets and 
many fine old buildings, the oldest of its public edifices dating from 
the Norman period and belonging to two styles of architecture, the 
Saracenic and the Byzantine. Most attractive among them is the 
cathedral of St. Rosalia, built 1169-85. There is also the royal 
palace, with magnificent mosaics, and various other striking build- 
inga. -.' '^- -' i: >■^■;:S| 

As a shipping port, Palermo does an important business in the 
fruits and other agricultural products of the island, and in imports 
from other lands, and has a coasting trade of some importance. 
Though it has taken the place of Syracuse, it ranks far below it 
in historical importance. It has had its history, however, and 
has passed through the ravages of war. All this may be briefly 
described. .!.•■.: . ' ' J :Hk I ^:#^^f 

In origin it dates far back, the first we know of it being as a 
Phoenician colony and the stronghold in Sicily of Carthage. It was 
then known by the name of Panormus. Pyrrhus, the Greek invader 
of Roman Italy, conquered it in 276 B. C., and it was afterward 
taken by all the invaders of the isle, by the Romans in 254 B. C., 
the Vandals in 440 A. D., Belisarius in 535, the Saracens in 835, the 
Pisans in 1063, 3-nd the Normans in 1071. 

The latter made it the capital of their kingdom of Sicily, and it 
remained such under later holders. In 1820 and again in 1848 it 
revolted from the Bourbon kings of Naples, and it was freed from 
them by Garibaldi in i860, since which time it has been only a 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 49 

provincial capital. It has not escaped the ravages of the earth- 
quake demon to which its country is subject, having suffered severely 
from this evil in 1693, 1726, and 182;^. In the 1908 terror it was 
too far beyond the area of peril to feel more than a trifling quiver. 

Next to Palermo in size come two other cities, Catania and 
Messina, which on Christmas day of 1908 were almost exactly 
equal in population, having about 150,000 each. Three days later 
Messina had practically been wiped off the face of the earth, the 
great majority of its inhabitants dead or dying beneath its ruins, 
and Catania stood without rival as the second city of Sicily. 

This distinction in fate is in a measure surprising, since Catania 
stands at the southern foot of Mount Etna, the danger point of the 
island, while Messina lies many miles to the north. Catania, 
indeed, has not escaped the visitations of its terrible neighbor in 
the past, but the present disaster was confined to the northeast 
section of Sicily and beautiful Catania remained unharmed. It has 
not always had this good fortune. It was destroyed by an earth- 
quake in 1 169, and five hundred years later, in 1669, was again 
severely shaken and threatened with utter destruction by a river of 
molten lava. The story of this visitation and the efforts to stop its 
ravages are told in chapter 23 of this work, and we need here speak 
only of another eruption and earthquake in 1693, which again almost 
destroyed the city. On this occasion its fine harbor was choked by 
a stream of lava, and it is still unsafe, although a mole to improve 
it has been built at great expense. 

Since that date it has stood secure, and is tb-day the finest and 
handsomest city in Sicily, it being built on a beautiful and consistent 
plan, to the details of which every builder is obliged to conform. 
From the sea it has a most attractive apearance, and this is not lost 



50 THR HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

to those who tread its streets, which are straight and wide and 
finely paved with blocks of lava, the most abundant building material 
in its vicinity. Lava, with trimmings of limestone and marble, is 
used in its public buildings, which are spacious and handsome, as are 
also many of its private residences. The finest of its squares, that 
in front of the cathedral, has for ornament an ancient statue in 
lava of an elephant bearing a granite obelisk. The cathedral men- 
tioned holds first place among its many churches, it being founded 
by Roger L, the Norman, in 1091, but largely rebuilt since the 
earthquake of 1693. The great Benedictine abbey of San Nicolo 
occupies an area of twenty-one acres, there being not more than two 
or three buildings of the same kind in Europe to be compared with 
it. Its church is remarkable for a grand organ, with seventy-two 
stops and 2,916 pipes, built by Donato del Piano in 1760. 

Back of the city spreads the fine Catanian plain, the only one 
of any large extent on the island. Fertile and well-cultivated, 
extending far along the southeast base of the great volcano, it is 
known as ''the granary of Sicily," and largely to it the city owes its 
complimentary title of "La Bella Catania,." Aside from all ques- 
tions of beauty and attractive situation, the city is very active com- 
mercially, its people being distinguished for their industry and enter- 
prise. It has manufactures of silk and linen goods, and of articles 
in lava, wood, amber, etc., while its exports embrace these manu- 
factures and also sulphur, olives, grain, and other products of its 
fertile plain. 

Like all the important cities in Sicily, Catania has a history 
going back to far ancient times. Under its old name of Catana, if 
was founded by a Greek colony from the neighboring city of 
Naxos about 730 B. C, which, once of importance, has long since 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 51 

ceased to exist. Catana maintained its independence until 476 B. C, 
when it was in a flourishing condition, but met with a sad reverse 
at the hands of Hiero L, who took it, removed its inhabitants to 
Leontini, and repeopled it with ten thousand Greeks and Syracusans, 
changing- its name to Aetria. This change did not last long. Hiero 
died, the old citizens returned, got possession of their city, and 
restored its name of Catana. 

It had other misfortunes. It was taken by the Athenians under 
Nicias, and later by Dionysius of Syracuse, who plundered the city, 
sold its inhabitants for slaves, and planted there a body of merce- 
naries from Campania. Under the Romans it regained its old im- 
portance, and in the time of Cicero was a flourishing and wealthy 
city, but in later wars suffered so severely that Augustus had to 
repeople it. Later the Goths plundered it, it was sacked by the 
Saracens, was conquered from them by the Normans, was ravaged 
by the emperor Henr}^ IV, and was several times besieged in the 
fourteenth century. 

Despite all the disasters from war and earthquake which Catania 
has suffered, many relics of ancient grandeur exist, the remains 
from the Roman times being numerous and extensive. These include 
a theatre, an amphitheatre, an odeum, baths, tombs, and fragments 
of a temple ascribed to Ceres. Lava has buried much of the theatre, 
and the remainder has served as a quarry for more modern buildings. 

We might go on indefinitely describing places of ancient fame 
in Sicily, most of them now insignificant places. Among those we 
cannot pass by the Greek Akragas, the Roman Agrigentum, the 
modern Girgenti. Now a town of about 20,000 inhabitants, it was 
of old the second city in Sicily, with about 200,000 inhabitants, and 
a wealth and commerce that surpassed those of Syracuse. The 



52 THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

temples of Agrigentum were on the grandest scale of magnificence, 
scarcely equalled elsewhere in Sicily. Chief among them was the 
noble temple of the Olympic Zeus, 340 feet long. Of this only some 
fragments remain, but of the others there are numerous and splendid 
ruins, the best preserved among them being the Temple of Concord. 
Long independent, and possessing a territory which extended across 
the island, disaster fell upon it in 406 B. C, when it was taken by the 
Carthaginians and utterly destroyed. It never regained its old im- 
portance. 

As a town, the Girgenti of to-day owes its attraction chiefly to 
its ruins and the beauty of its situation. It is so old fashioned that 
its best hotel has to send to Palermo, — six hours by train — for butter 
and meat. But when spring comes Girgenti is a dream of beauty, 
with its thousands of almond trees, snow-clad with blossoms, the 
tender green of its wheat fields, the scent of orange blossoms perfum- 
ing the air, wild flowers blooming everywhere, color, perfume, 
warmth, all that can fill the soul with enjoyment, while the rugged? 
temples of the past rise to give an old-world grandeur to the scene. 

For temples, however, we must go to Selinus, in the vicinity of 
modern Castelvetrano, where are to be seen the ruins of six vast 
Doric structures, some of them among the largest known. The 
Temple of Apollo, said to be the largest ever built, was 371 feet 
long and, including its steps, 177 feet wide. Its columns were 53 J4 
feet high and ii>^ feet in diameter at base. As they lie to-day, it 
takes the arm-stretch of six or seven men to reach around one of 
them. This temple, built about 2,500 years ago, was never finished, 
as its columns to-day show. 

Baedeker speaks of Selinus as the "grandest ancient ruins in 
Europe." They are not erect, like some of those at Girgenti, but 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 53 

lie in rows of fallen columns whose vastness holds us spell-bound 
with wonder and awe. There are sculptures among them, big, un- 
gainly, lacking grace, but of interest from the fact that they rank 
with the most ancient Greek sculptures known. When one gazes 
at all this, seemingly the work of giant hands, the amazement of it 
all is that these old builders, destitute of our sources of power and 
mechanical expedients, could have had the hardihood to undertake 
such vast labors and the perseverance to succeed. If the whole 
modern world were overthrown by an all-embracing earthquake, it 
would leave no ruins to compare with those that have come down to 
us from the past. 

Let us visit another Sicilian city in our journey over the island, 
one well-known as a place of resort for American tourists, the 
modern Taormina, the old-time Tauromenium. This town was built 
about 385 B. C, and of it many relics remain, including an aqueduct, 
tesselated pavements, and what is left of a theatre which is regarded 
as one of the most splendid ruins in Sicily, and the site of which 
commands a view of almost unparalleled magnificence. 

Taormina, lying 35 miles southwest of Messina and not far 
north of Etna, was one of the towns at first reported destroyed by 
the recent earthquake. It fortunately escaped with nothing worse 
than a terrifying shake, luckily for the foreign residents, for whom 
it has long been a favorite place of resort. Standing, as it does, on 
a rock 900 feet above the sea, it seems perched like an eagle's nest 
in the air, and is at once beautiful to look at from a distance and 
commands a grand and highly attractive view. 

To Taormina hastens every visitor from abroad, drawn by its 
reputation of being one of the most lovely spots on the earth. When 
Ruskin was an old man, not long before his death, he told a relative 



54 THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 

that the one spot on earth he would wish to see again, before leaving 
this lower realm, was rock-perched Taormina; and many there are 
who would share with him this wish. With the sea spread far and 
wide before it, the huge pile of Etna in near view, all the charm of 
color, of light and shade, and of picturesque views on every side, it 
is not surprising that artists haunt the place, busy in transferring 
to the canvas the many artistic points of view which find hosts of 
admirers. 

We might go on indefinitely seeking to give in words the charm 
of Sicily and the interest attaching to its many historic sites. We 
must round up this chapter, however, with a quotation from Mrs. 
Alec-Tweedie's "Sunny Sicily," in which are given her impressions 
of the chief attraction of the isle. 

"What is the chief charm of Sicily? Surely its varied color- 
ing. It is an artist's paradise. Again and again we revelled in 
the soft grays of the olive, prickly pear, aloe, cactus, and fig; the 
pink of the peach and almond blossom; the yellow of the orange, 
lemon, broom and gorse; the green of the palm and date, banana 
and wheat; the carpet of wild flowers of every hue,- and then the 
colors of sea and sky, the bright shawls of the women, the red 
scarfs and blue capes of the men, the scarlet cotton umbrellas and 
gay donkey harness, the smartly painted carts of Palermo, the vivid 
uniforms of the gendarmes — color, color, color everywhere. 

"It is this color, with quickly changing sky effects, that consti- 
tutes the charm. One may stay for days in a place, and yet every 
day that place looks different ; every hour it seems to change. Nature 
has many moods, and each has its fascination. Sometimes the sky 
is of oriental blue, and the heat tropical, then everything reminds 
one of hotter climes; sometimes grey mists and dull haze over- 



THE HISTORIC CITIES OF SICILY 55 

spread everything, and we fancy ourselves back in northern Europe ; 
or, again, a v^indy sky, with quickly chasing clouds passing over a 
rough, wild sea, makes us forget we are in Sunny Sicily at all. Yes ; 
its color and its climate — those are its greatest charms. 
''Sicily is a kaleidoscope of beautiful pictures,." 
And the attraction of the island is not alone that of rich land- 
scape effects, brilliant coloring, warm sunshine, luxuriant vegeta- 
tion. There is much in its story to attract the historian, much in its 
architectural remains to enchant the antiquarian. All the nations 
of the Mediterranean, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Romans, 
the Saracens, and even the Normans from the far North, have built 
upon its shores and left fine examples of their varied architecture 
scattered over its hills and valleys. And all of them have fought 
upon its soil, struggled for possession of its coveted territory, 
so that there is hardly a spot upon the island without its history, and 
it is probable that Sicily has witnessed more struggles for posses- 
sion of its domain than any other area of land of its size upon the 
face of the earth. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Story of Messina and Reggio, the Doomed 
Cities of the Straits. 

THE city of Messina, or what was the city of Messina before the 
earthquake demon swept it from the face of the earth, has a 
history in which earthquake evils played a prominent part 
in the past as in the present. On Christmas day of 1908 an active, 
bustling, happy community, stirring with trade and thronged with a 
busy population, engaged in the multifarious duties incident to the 
life of a commercial city, on New Year's day of 1909 it lay a heap of 
ruins, under which weltered in their blood a vast multitude of dead 
and wounded, the latter the more unfortunate of the two, from the 
terrible suffering which their situation entailed upon them. 

The disaster which overwhelmed this City of the Straits, how- 
ever, must, be left for later chapters, as we are concerned here merely 
with its history and situation. Messina is very picturesquely 
placed, lying between the sea and a range of sharp and rugged hills, 
the Dinnamare range, which rise to a height of 3700 feet. Running 
round the harbor in a semicircle, the town as seen from the sea, until 
recently, presented a very attractive aspect, the houses rising tier 
after tier upon the slope of the hills behind it, which climbed in the 
distance to lofty and wooded summits. Looking from this back- 
ground across the Straits, the coast of Italy is easily visible, it being 
only four miles distant at this point. Elsewhere the channel of sep- 



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THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REG GIG 57 

aration between Italy and Sicily narrows until it is no more than 
half this width. Yet the waters between lie deep, as if some giant 
hand had scored a vast and profound ravine between the two ranges 
of coast land. 

Messina owes largely its prominence as the second city of 
Sicily to the excellence of its harbor, which is the main element in 
its commercial prosperity. This is formed as if nature had intended 
this spot for the site of a flourishing community. A tongue of low 
land runs out from the shore and curves round in the shape of a 
sickle, enclosing a round basin, of about a square mile in area, open 
only to the north, the entrance channel being about 500 yards wide. 
The basin is deep enough for the largest ships to lie in safety in its 
waters, and the city is visited annually by more than 10,000 steam 
and sailing vessels, the carriers of its extensive commerce. 

The name of Messina is familar in our country from the excel- 
lent oranges to which it is attached, and of which large numbers 
annually reach our shores. Lemons and raisins help to make up its 
trade, together with wine, oil, liquorice and hides, the product of 
the fertile island. Trading is the chief business of the place, its only 
manufactures of importance being silk goods^ But its situation is 
favorable to the pursuits of the fisherman, and many of the inhabi- 
tants long made this their vocation, tunny being their chief catch, 
though sword-fish are captured in the Straits during July and Aug- 
ust, the harpoon being used in this fishery. Valuable coral beds also 
lie beneath the waters and many of the people engage in the pursuit 
of this treasure of the depths. 

Before its catastrophe, indeed, Messina was, next to Palermo, 
the chief commercial city of Sicily, with about 150,000 inhabi- 
tants. Including in this count the surrounding country and small 



58 THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 

suburbs adjacent it approximates 200,000. It is the seat of an appel- 
late court and is an archbishopric, and boasts a university unexcelled 
elsewhere in Sicily. Its university is situated on the Faro, or 
Stretta de Messina, a promontory due north of the city of Messina, 
which juts into the straits and reaches nearer to Calabria than at 
any other point. Directly across from the Promontory de Faro is 
the great Calabrian rock Scilla, over which is the town Scilla. This 
rock and the whirlpool beneath it, formed the direful Scylla of 
Greek mythology, which, with the Charybdis of eddies and unbridled 
currents in the straits, were thought by the ancients to be fraught 
with infinite danger. These cross currents have in recent years 
been greatly tamed, and Scilla is a delightful little port with no 
reminiscent suggestion of her quondam horrors. 

On the Sicilian shore of these tumultuous straits is a range of 
rugged peaks. They lend dignity and grandeur to the wide 
stretches of scenery and are second in all Sicily only to Palermo. 

WHAT MESSINA IS LIKE. 

Messina was, comparatively speaking, well constructed through- 
out. It has several beautiful streets, chief among which is the Via 
Garibaldi, named after this soldier's memorable invasion of Sicily, 
when Messina was his point of attack. About the edge of the bril- 
liant harbor runs the Marino, or Corso Vittorio Emmanuele. Par- 
allel to the Marino and the Via Garibaldi are the Corso Cavour and 
the Via dei Monasteri. 

The original city lay between the torrents of Portalegni, but it 
was extended north and south under Charles V., and has since 
incorporated within itself the suburbs of Zaera and San Leo. 

Owing to the frequency of attack made upon the city by the 



THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 59 

warring elements about her, Messina contains fewer relics of antiq- 
uity than any other ancient Sicilian city. 

Foremost in its list of attractions is the Cathedral of La Mat- 
rice, an edifice of the Norman period begun in 1098. Parts of it are 
still standing as originally built, but as a whole it has been almost 
entirely rebuilt, owing to the destructive effects upon it of successive 
earthquakes. Like the town, the cathedral has had many vicissi- 
tudes and bears the marks of most of them. In 1254 it was 
damaged by fire which broke out in the course of the funeral of 
Conrad IV. In 1559 the spire of the campanile was burned down. 
In 1783 the campanile and the transept were overthrown by an earth- 
quake. 

All of the parts of this old edifice authentically of the past 
are the portals of the facade, indescribably enriched by carving in 
stone, and still more celebrated twelfth century mosaics, which were 
counted unequalled in Italy. From far and near the pious wended 
to La Matrice to lay votive offerings on the various altars to propiti- 
ate Providence in favor of the sailor folk. The trait is inherited 
from the Pagan forefathers of the island, since a Temple of Neptune 
that existed near the city attested that the sailor folk used to deposit 
offerings to the sea god to save the mariners from the demons of 
Scylla and Charybdis hard by the city in the strait beyond. Twenty- 
six columns from this Neptune temple were used in erecting the 
cathedral of St. Matrice. 

The cathedral has also a gorgeous high-altar and baldacchino, 
while its choicest treasure is a letter claimed to have been written by 
the Virgin Mary to the townsmen. Its splendid mosaics are rivalled 
by those in the two other old churches of St. Gregory and St. Niccola. 

Other buildings of past times are the citadel, built by Charles II, 



6o THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 

of Spain in 1680, the Gonzago Castle, dating from 1140, and 
another castle of almost equal antiquity. The remaining important 
buildings, the handsome theatre, the palaces, and the official build- 
ings, are for the most part modern — or rather were, for they have 
largely ceased to be. Among them we may name a university 
originally founded as long ago as 1549, a college of the fine arts, an 
academy of the arts and sciences, scientific collections, and technical 
schools. 

MESSINA LA NOBILA. 

"Messina la Nobila" presented to the curious eye only another 
form of the well built modern Italian city. In fact, the inexpres- 
sible grandeur of the scenery, the vine-terraced mountains, the pur- 
ple fumes arising from Etna, the enchantingly graceful outlines of 
the four-mile crescent forming the harbor, so eclipsed all human 
work, that the city made little impression. Situated right at the 
water's edge, with no possible means of sea defence, Messina was 
always the first point assaulted by the covetous races bent on possess- 
ing the key to the Mediterranean. Hence, Messina, though its site 
is one of the oldest of those of the southern cities, was the most 
modern of the capitals identified with successive races. Without 
the relics of antiquity, Messina possessed only the charm of its delici- 
ous climate, its gay street life and the bewildering vistas seen from 
the successive parterres of vine-clad loveliness winding skyward. 
There had been relics of Grecian, Saracen, Norman and Roman 
citadels, amphitheatres and what not until the unspeakable Bomba 
let loose his demoniac soldiery in 1848 to put down the insurrec- 
tionary forces bent upon forming a civilized system on the island. 
After the bombardment by his troops and the consequent destruc- 
tion, its antique ruins had largely ceased to be. 



THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 6i 

Messina's people were scattered along the narrow fringe of 
land between the foot hills and the curving beach, hence the swift 
destruction that followed the invasion of the "thirty-five feet of 
water" that is described as rising after the few seconds of shock 
that tumbled the walls and slaughtered the sleeping victims. Not 
long ago a very perfect system of seismographic instruments were 
set up along the coast to give warning to threatened cities; the 
mechanism was so ingenious that scientific folk have travelled from 
far and near to watch its astonishing accuracy, its almost super- 
natural sensitiveness to the slightest earth tremors. Its warnings, 
however, were of no avail against such sudden shocks as that with 
whose results we are now concerned. Disasters which come in the 
dead of night and complete their work of destruction while the 
second-hand of the clock is half completing its brief round leave no 
time for the most complete seismograph to give notice, and what- 
ever may have been its value to science, the Messinian instrument 
was of no use to the threatened inhabitants. 

ANTIQUITY OF MESSINA. 

The history of Messina begins very early in the Greek era. It 
was founded in 732 B. C, by pirates from Cumae and Chalcidia, but 
this was not its first appearance, for an ancient Sikelian town occu- 
pied the site on which these piratical invaders settled, drawn thither, 
doubtless, from its splendid adaptation to sea-faring purposes and 
its convenient nearness to Italy. They named the place Zancle 
(a sickle) from the shape of its harbor, its title of Messina coming 
several centuries later. 

Eighty years afterward the town had become so prosperous as 
to be able to sent out a colony of its own, which settled at Himera. 



62 THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 

A new influx of inhabitants came after the Persian conquest of the 
Greek domain in Asia Minor in 494 B,. C, fugitives from Samos and 
Miletus sailing thither and taking possession of the city. A year 
later came another change in its fortunes, when Anaxilas, the tyrant 
ruler of Rhegium on the Calabrian shore, seized the place and 
peopled it by a colony of Messenians from the Peloponnesus. These, 
to keep with them a memory of their home, changed the name of 
the place to Messana, the Doric progenitor of the present title. 

About thirty years later the sons of Anaxilas were expelled by 
the rebellious citizens and their old republican government was 
restored. Under this home rule the city continued for the follow- 
ing seventy years, it taking no part in the great war between Athens 
and Syracuse, the effects of which were felt widely throughout Sicily. 

Its greatest ancient disaster came in 396 B. C, when the 
Carthaginians, during their wars with Dionysius of Syracuse, 
captured it, and destroyed it so utterly that it had to be entirely 
rebuilt. This was done by Dionysius, who drove out the foreign 
foe and made the place a part of his extended kingdom. During 
the next fifty years Messina had several changes of masters, until 
in 343 came Timoleon, the great Greek deliverer, who put an end 
finally to the Carthaginian occupation of the city. 

The next important era in the history of Messina was that of 
the first Punic war, between Rome and Carthage. The Syracusans 
and Carthaginians were then at war in the island and the fierce 
struggles that followed led to an appeal to Rome for aid which 
was quickly responded to. In this way Messina was concerned in 
the origin of the long and desperate conflict between the two great 
warlike republics of that age. At the close of what is known as the 
first Punic war, the early era of that great struggle (241 B. C), 



THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 63 

Messina came under the control of Rome, and remained so until the 
fall of the empire. 

Even then it did not escape the ravages of war. During the 
civil wars that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar, Messina 
was one of the cities that supported Sextus Pompeius. As a result 
it was taken by Octavian in 35 B,. C, and sacked by his troops. 
When he became emperor, as Augustus Caesar, he founded a colony 
there, and for centuries thereafter it flourished as a trading port as 
it had done for centuries before. 

Messina's later history. 

The most important event in the history of Messina came after 
eight centuries of relief from war's vicissitudes. The Saracens had 
now made their power felt in northen Africa and invaded Sicily 
from Tunis, rapidly gaining control in the island. Messina fell into 
their hands, and was held by them for more than two centuries, 
when the Normans came to dispute their dominion in Sicily, Messina 
being the first permanent conquest made by them. This was in 
1061 A. D. The Crusades soon followed and Messina reaped a 
harvest from them, it being a favorite place of rendezvous for 
Christian soldiers on their way to dispute the ownership of the Holy 
Land with the Saracens. 

Misfortune came to it, however, in 1190, when the burly and 
hot-headed Richard Coeur de Lion stopped there with his crusading 
army. He spent six months in the city and, as usual with him, got 
into a quarrel with Tancred, the last of the Norman rulers, and let 
his soldiers loose on the town. They sacked it in the thorough 
manner of the warriors of fortune of that day. Four years later 
Messina, with the rest of Sicily, came under the control of Henry 
VI., the German emperor. 



64 THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 

After a period of German occupation the French became domi- 
nant in Sicily, and held it till 1282, the year of the Sicilian Vespers, 
when the people rose and drove the invaders from their land. In 
the war that followed, Charles of Anjou besieged Messina, but its 
people boldly and bravely defended their city, and for once in its 
history it repelled an invading army. 

In 1282 Spain became dominant, and held Messina until 171 3, 
a period of more than four centuries. Here the fleet fitted out by 
the Holy League against the Turkish lords of the Mediterranean 
assembled in 1571, under Don John of Austria, and set out for its 
great victory at Lepanto. He returned thither with his victorious 
fleet and celebrated his success with a triumph in the city. To 
commemorate his visit a statue in his honor was erected in the 
Piazza dell' Annuziata. 

For a century after this Messina enjoyed great prosperity, but 
an ill destiny was at hand, due to internal dissensions which ended 
• in destroying its commercial importance. In 1674 a bitter struggle 
broke out between the aristocratic faction, or Merli, and the demo- 
cratic faction, or Mavizzi. The democratic faction appealed to the 
French and the other to the Spaniards. The former faction were at 
first victorious, but eventually were deserted by the French, the city 
was taken by the Spaniards, and when the struggle was over the 
population was reduced from 120,000 to about a tenth of that 
number,. 

The town never fully recovered from this disaster. Whatever 
recovery was made was neutralized in the eighteenth century by a 
series of disasters. In 1740 about 40,000 persons died of the plague, 
and in 1783 the town was almost entirely overthrown by the great 
earthquake of that year. Great damage was caused by bombard- 



THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 65 

ment in September, 1848. The cholera carried off no fewer than 
16,000 victims in 1854, and earthquakes in 1894 and 1906 also caused 
loss of life and property. In i860 the town was occupied by Gari- 
baldi. It became a part of united Italy the following year. It was 
the last city on the island taken from the Bourbons and brought 
under the rule of Victor Emmanuel. 

REGGIO DI CALABRIA. 

Across the Messinian straits to Reggio di Calabria, so called 
to distinguish it from Reggio nell'Emelia, is one of the prettiest trips 
between the two countries, that bridging the gulf between Sicily and 
Italy proper. In Reggio the devastation of the latest tragedy has 
been almost as widespread as in Messina, although Reg-gio is far 
smaller, and less important from the historical and artistic point of 
view. 

It has been for the most part safely out of the path of the vol- 
canic eruptions which have destroyed its Sicilian neighbors, though 
the earthquakes and tidal waves resultant upon Etna's upheaval 
have struck Reggio as hard as the rest. The district in which it 
is situated is the extreme toe of what is called the foot of Italy, the, 
town being placed on the Italian side of the Straits of Messina, a 
few miles farther south than the city of that name. With 44,000 
population before its recent disaster, Reggio is the capital of a 
province of the same name having about 430,000 inhabitants, very 
many of whom felt some severe effects from the recent earthquake. 

Like so many of the cities of Sicily and southern Italy, Reggio 
owes its origin to the Greeks, being founded in 732 B. C. by a colony 
of fugitives from Messina, under the name of Rhegium. Prosperous 
in its early career, it suffered much in its later history from the 



66 THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 

ravages of war. Anaxilas mastered it about 494 B. C, adding 
Messina soon to his dominion. In 399 B. C. Dionysius of Syracuse 
made an attack upon it which was the beginning of a protracted 
struggle, ending in 387 in its complete destruction and the sale of 
all its inhabitants as slaves. 

It was restored by the second Dionysius, but in 280 B. C, dur- 
ing the war between Rome and Pyrrhus, admitted a Roman garrison, 
which revolted, killed all the men of the town, and held the place 
against the Romans for ten years. In the Middle Ages it was 
captured in succession by the Goths, the Saracens, the Pisans, the 
Normans and the Turks. 

An interesting incident in its history is the visit there of Paul 
the Apostle in his voyage from Csesarea to Rome. Mention of this 
is made in the Acts of the Apostles, and the fact is made known by 
an inscription from the Acts carved across the front of the Cathedral. 
Reggio (pronounced Red' jo) suffered frightfully in the earth- 
quake of 1783, the horror being so great that very little of the past 
appeared in the modern city which fell under earthquake throes in 
1908. 

The place, before its disaster, was one of many attractions. 
George Gissing, in his "By the Ionian Sea," speaks of its "regular 
streets, amphitheatre-wise, upon the slope that rises between shore 
and mountain. From the terrace road along the shore. Via Plutino, 
beauties and glories indescribable lie before one at every turn of the 
head. Aspromonte, with its forests and crags; the shining straits, 
sail-dotted, opening to a sea-horizon north and south, and, on the 
other side, the mountain-island, crowned with snow." 

At Reggio, Sunday was market day and crowds of country 
folk came into town with the products of the soil. Stalls filled the 



THE STORY OF MESSINA AND REGGIO 67 

open spaces temporarily, the donkeys, ubiquitous beasts of burden 
there, being tethered during the hours of selHng, Roundabout was 
a veritable garden spot, the vegetables being famous. There were 
cauliflowers with the white measuring over a foot across. Flowers 
were everywhere. The women on these days were quite as busy as 
the men. The female water-carrier poised on her head a long slim 
cask which rested on a pad. She suggested the Sicilienne who, after 
her husband had fought for and obtained a traveler's luggage, put 
it on her head and trudged off up the mountain-side with the new- 
comer while her marital partner remained to lounge at the wharf. 

The Musea Civico contained a fine collection of terra cottas, 
lamps, vases, statuettes, and other examples of curious, early native 
art, now probably all destroyed. Among its most interesting works 
was a relief of women dancing of the sixth century B. C, with its 
architectural framework painted black, red and yellow. One of the 
far-famed Laocoon groups was also housed here. 

In the piazza adjoining the railroad station was a fine statue of 
Garibaldi, under which a military band often played. Back of 
Reggio rises the imposing, forest-clad Aspromonte, due north of 
which is Scilla. 

The smaller cities which are buried under the streams of lava 
or deluged with the slime and water of the tidal waves all bear the 
same general characteristics of the cities whose share of the burden 
was heaviest. All the small cities in Sicily and Calabria have kept 
their little quota of historical relics jealously guarded against in- 
vasion and sacrilege. Each has been forced to build over again the 
homes and streets in which its populace dwelt. Each has known 
the same tribulation, learned through long sojourn near Etna, the 
great monster of southern Italy and Sicily. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Frightful Earthquake of 1908 and Its Sur- 
passing Horrors. 

N' O more delightful season comes to the people of the Christian 
nations in these later days than that of Christmas, the era of 
festivities, home gatherings, the giving of gifts and happy- 
reunions of all kinds. It is the season in which no one is apt to 
dream of death and disaster, and on the Christmas of 1908 it is not 
likely that a single inhabitant of that portion of Italy surrounding 
the Straits of Messina had other thoughts than of enjoying the 
happy season to the utmost. All over the civilized earth, indeed, joy 
and good will reigned and gloom and disaster found no abiding 
place in men^s minds. 

Yet disaster impended, dire, deadly, earth-rending disaster; 
beneath the unquiet earth the demons of destruction were gathering, 
and to the old disasters of the region a new one of unprecedented 
horror was about to be added. A quiet Saturday and Sunday fol- 
lowed the day of festive enjoyments, and the people of the threatened 
district sank to their wonted rest, prepared to take up again the 
accustomed burden of life when the next day dawned. 

Alas for them, and for all sympathetic souls, no day was ever 
again to dawn to the great majority of that slumbering multitude, 
no burden of life was again to be taken up, and for most of those 
whom death was not ready to claim, pain and agony, in many cases 
life-long, impended. 

^68) 



THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE. OF ipo8 69 

The night passed; the late hours preceding the dawn arrived; 
five o'clock came and passed and the whole city seemed buried in 
slumber, awaiting the hour near at hand when the sun would call 
it to life and activity again. 

Suddenly, without a moment's warning, the earth's surface 
was lifted, houses and churches rocked and swayed, ceilings fell and 
buried the sleepers in their beds, failing floors carried the beds and 
their occupants alike to red ruin, walls crashed and tumbled, and 
before thirty seconds had passed the great city of Messina fell into 
almost utter ruin, burying vast numbers of its inhabitants in a grave 
from which they would never emerge. 

A scene of universal horror succeeded the frightful catastrophe. 
Thousands of the people lay buried under the ruins, the most fortu- 
nate among them those who fell to sudden death and escaped the long 
agony that awaited many of those who lay under the fallen walls, 
terribly multilated and suffering untold tortures, or those who, while 
unhurt, were pinned fast by fallen beams, and saw with starting eyes 
the red flag of the flames which soon began to crawl towards them, 
licking the frightful spoil with red, devouring lips. 

Few in comparison were those who gained the streets, clamber- 
ing over piles of wreck, half clad or unclad, many of them bleeding 
from painful wounds, most of them so terror-stricken as to forget 
their hurts, to forget all but the instinct of flight. Screams of hor- 
ror, demoniacal cries, moans of anguish filled the air, drowned fre- 
quently by the roar of falling walls, often filling the streets from 
side to side and crushing new victims among those who had safely 
fled from the first peril. And upon it all came a torrential down- 
pour of rain, soaking and chilling the survivors and adding to the 
gruesome aspect of the frightful situation. 



70 THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF ipo8 

The sufferings of the people were awful to contemplate. Bodies 
were found which bore mute testimony of the torture endured 
before death relieved their sufferings,. Several of these persons had 
died gnawing at their arms and hands, evidently delirious from pain 
and hunger. Other bodies brought from the ruins had portions of 
shawls and particles of clothing in the mouths, and one woman had 
her teeth firmly fixed in the leg of a dead baby. 

MANY MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. 

The stories related by the survivors in the hospitals, and at the 
food supply stations, where rations are issued twice a day, all reflect 
the horror of the fateful December 28. There were many mir- 
aculous escapes, but the cases of bereavement were without number. 
A cobbler named Francesco Missiano related that immediately after 
the first shock he and his wife and children rushed out into the street. 
Fires were breaking out all around them. Hearing groans from a 
pile of debris nearby the cobbler made a hurried examination. He 
found two girls dying. The head of one was split open, while the 
chest of the other had been crushed in. 

The cobbler picked up a baby, but it expired in his arms. Seized 
with mad terror the man fled tovs^ard the sea. It took his party two 
hours and a half to traverse the heaps of ruins between his house 
and the water front. After placing his family in safety he returned 
to seek his mother and sisters, but he was obliged to give up the 
effort. It was impossible to make his way back to his home. During 
the thirty-six hours the cobbler passed among the ruins he did not 
see more than 5,000 or 6,000 survivors. 

All of the survivors told dismal stories of the misery suffered 
by cold and hunger after their escape, and of the rarity of other 



THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF ipo8 yi 

survivors seen in the streets and open places, so that often they 
beheved themselves to be the only persons saved ; of the dense, chok- 
ing cloud of dust which hung over the city for a long time, obscur- 
ing their vision and adding to the horrors of their bewilderment ; and 
of the greater horrors of the succeeding earthquake shocks, espe- 
cially in the darkness, which seemed to forbid all hope of final escape. 
A tragic note was struck by an elderly couple, who described how 
they were imprisoned in the lower part of their ruined house. They 
could only cry for help and heard no answer, save other cries for 
help from the darkness around them. 

It was impossible to pass through most of the streets, which 
were blocked in some places with huge mounds of fallen debris. 
Here and there bodies could be seen in inaccessible places, pinned in 
by beams or masonry and projecting from the upper stories of the 
houses, sometimes lying half buried and horribly contorted. 

In front of the city the sea wall had broken up and fallen and 
the sea walk was sunk under water. Behind this were streets upon 
streets of fallen houses. In some places the appalling scene beg- 
gared all description; everywhere horrors beyond mention making 
the scene one fit for the pen of a Dante. 

FREAKS OF THE DISASTER. 

Curious freaks of the earthquake were everywhere to be ob- 
served. Standing walls had fallen out, exposing one tier of rooms 
above another in which nothing seemed to have been disturbed. 
Pictures hung straight on the walls, lamps were on tables and vases 
and flowers on m.antelpieces. In one place two buzzards were sun- 
ning themselves on a window-ledge over the dead body of a woman, 
whose wealth of black hair covered her face and shoulders. Dogs 
and cats were killed by the soldiers whenever caught feeding on the 



^2 THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF ipo8 

dead. The buildings that best resisted the shock were the old royal 
palace, now the prefecture, and the Archbishop's palace, where ten 
of the inmates lost their lives. 

The survivors of the disaster were so dazed and worn out that 
they were quite incapable of describing their experiences connectedly, 
but the accounts of all agreed that the devastation was accom- 
plished in less than one minute. All those capable of analyzing 
their sensations said that when the shock came they felt an upward 
thrust of the earth. This was followed by an oscillatory motion 
and the crust of the earth vibrated. A great and terrifying roar, 
like a series of subterranean thunder claps, accompanied the jump- 
ing, dancing, hurling about of everything movable, which was so 
severe that some of the survivors were flung from their beds three 
feet into the air several times before they could get upon their feet 
and make their way to the street by stumbling down crumbling stair- 
ways or dropping from windows upon the ruin below. 

Early visitors to the scene found the streets of the wrecked city 
piled twenty or thirty feet high with debri^. It was a wilderness 
of ruin a mile wide and two miles long. Beautiful churches, splendid 
villas in the foot-hills, hospitals, barracks and the university — all 
shared the common lot. Two-thirds of the magnificent Norman 
Cathedral, the pride of Messina, were in ruins, and little or nothing 
remained of the relics of Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Saracen 
architecture which marked the stages of Messina's centuries of tragic 
and tumultuous history. 

THE RUINS OF REGGIO. 

While attention was concentrated upon Messina, the inhabitants 
of many other towns and villages in Sicily and Calabria were suffer- 
ing the same horrors. Chief among these was Reggio, a Calabrian 



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SEEKING REFUGE IN THE CATHEDRAL AT ST. PIERRE. 
The last refuge from destruction, yet not a refuge. 



THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF ipo8 73 

city of one-third the size of Messina, and like the latter in the centre 
of the area of shock. News from this city came later than from 
Messina, but it was of the same tragic character. 

The ominous absence of details concerning Reggio proved to 
be due to the fact that not only the city itself, but its whole popula- 
tion, with the exception of a mere handful, had disappeared. 

A torpedo boat which ran close to the coast was unable to dis- 
cover a trace of the city. Where, two days before, stood an aggrega- 
tion of buildings and busy streets there was nothing seen but rocks 
and earth. The city had vanished as completely as Aladdin's 
palace under the magician's spell. The first idea was that Reggio 
was completely swallowed by the earth collapsing beneath it, and 
the yawning site was filled by the sea, which advanced in a huge 
wave, as at Messina. And this, Avhile an exaggeration of the fact, 
was not wholly out of consonance with the situation,. Refugees 
from this city confirmed in part this story of dreadful ravage, say- 
ing that the lower part of the city had been swallowed up, and that 
the public buildings, the churches, the barracks, the city hall, and 
most of the houses of the people were nothing but crumbled masses 
of ruins. Later tidings from Reggio told the same story of horror 
indescribable. For two days the survivors were cut ofif from the 
outer world. Looters took possession of the ruins, and ultimately 
respectable citizens were forced to arm themselves and fight for food 
to escape starvation. 

CHASM EIGHTY FEET WIDE. 

The station master at Reggio says that immediately after the 
first shock a chasm eighty feet wide was opened in the earth. From 
this there gushed forth a flood of boiling water, some jets rising to 
the height of an ordinary house. Many injured persons who were 



74 THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF ipo8 

in this vicinity were horribly scalded by the flowing stream, and 
these volumes of hot water continued to spout into the air for two 
days after the earthquake,. The width of this fissure was doubtless 
exaggerated, but several remained twenty feet wide. 

As the station master made his way to a place of safety he saw 
human limbs sticking from the masses of ruins. Frenzied relatives 
strove to free their dear ones from the fallen masonry, while shrieks 
from the miserable fugitives, rushing half naked and bleeding 
through the streets, filled the air. 

The sea inundated the suburbs of Reggio and destroyed count- 
less acres of orange groves. The smaller houses of the peasants 
completely disappeared, the receding waters leaving them buried 
in mire. Corpses were encountered everywhere in the outskirts of 
the city. The bridge near Pellaro was carried off by the sea, as 
were also entire sections of the railroad. 

A young seminary student, Teodoro Rositani, who walked 
eleven miles to escape from Reggio, had a terrible tale to tell of the 
first moments of the earthquake, in which he lost a sister and another 
relative. 

"Together with my companions," he said, "I was in a train 
waiting to go to San Giovanni, when the carriage was literally lifted 
off the tracks, the station crumbling to the ground before our eyes. 
We were soon climbing the heap of rubbish, all that was left of the 
station, guided by the cries of distress. We dragged forth the 
family of the station-master, all of whom were badly injured. 

"Meanwhile the shocks continued and the sea gathered itself 
into a wall of water, destroying everything it touched. The sun 
had risen before we had completed our work of rescue at the station. 

"We were roused from our work by the shouts and found our- 



THE I'RICHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF iqo8 75 

selves in the embrace of the rest of our companions, who had escaped ' 
from the seminary. In the joy of the reunion we all fell on our knees 
and gave thanks for our escape, praying also for our less fortunate 
townspeople." 

DISASTER IN OTHER QUARTERS. 

Messina and Reggio were the only large cities that felt the 
effects of the fearful quake. Palermo was too far off to be reached, 
and Catania, though ver}^ near Etna, was unhurt by the shock. 
Taormina, midway between Messina and Etna, and a favorite place 
of resort for American tourists, escaped with a light shake that did 
little damage, though the sea was strangely affected. But within 
the immediate zone of ruin were many small towns and villages 
which felt the full force of the shock and had as dire a tale of horrors 
to tell as had the larger cities. 

The disturbance extended farther inland in Calabria than in 
Sicily, but most of the residents were concentrated along the coast 
line, where the configuration is not changed except within a few 
yards of the shore. 

Scylla, San Giovanni and Reggio, in the order named, stretch 
from the north to the south along the coast line for about ten miles, 
with smaller hamlets between. The inhabitants of this line of 
greatest violence numbered about 70,000, of these Reggio alone lost 
28,000, while similar destruction visited the other towns. San 
Giovanni was a prosperous manufacturing town, containing ten 
large silk mills, all of which were destroyed, with very many of their 
operatives. 

Back from the coast were other towns, Bagnara, with 10,000 
inhabitants; San L'Eufemia, with 6,000; Palmi, with 7,000, and 



76 THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF 1908 

various others, all of which lost heavily. At Bagnara few houses 
were left standing and the city presented an aspect of terrible desola- 
tion. The Mezzacapo barracks at Reggio went down in utter ruin, 
nearly a whole regiment being buried beneath them. At a convent 
nearby some of the nuns and all the servants were killed, and of the 
sixty pupils only twelve escaped. Some of these jumped from 
windows and walked twenty-five miles in their night clothes in 
search of aid. 

The centre of the disaster in Calabria seemed to be the region 
around Monte Leone, where every town and village had its gory roll 
of dead and wounded to chronicle. Thousands of people abandoned 
their homes, although a terrific rain storm prevailed, and filled the 
air with lamentations and prayers. In some places, such as Prizzo, 
Cotrone, Santa Severina and Piscopio, the people had the courage to 
enter the churches almost while they were falling, and carry out the 
Saints. They bore these in procession through the open country, in- 
voking the mercy of God. In the mountainous regions inland the 
population took refuge in grottos and caves, where peasants and 
priests, soldiers and persons of gentle birth, dwelt in common. Their 
bed was the ground, and fires were kindled to keep ofif wild animals. 

The radius of ruin and death extended back with decreasing 
intensity for forty miles on the mainland and thirty miles in Sicily, 
and a detachment of troops which went to the villages on the east 
coast of Calabria found nothing but ruins and the bodies of persons 
killed in the earthquake. The survivors had fled. There was every 
reason to believe that dreadful havoc was wrought in the mountain 
villages that had not yet been explored. 

A report of technical observations from the observatory at 
Messina savs the earthquake lasted for twenty-three seconds only. 



THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF 1908 77 

It was accompanied by remarkable atmospheric phenomena. The 
surcharged air was filled with sparks and flashes of flame which 
flared up until the heavens seemed afire. The crest of the earth ap- 
peared suddenly to drop. These phenomena were followed by dis- 
tinct lateral oscillations that threw the panic-stricken people off their 
feet as they rushed to the streets. 

NOTHING COULD HAVE WITHSTOOD SHOCK. 

Messina, like most Sicilian and southern Italian towns, was of 
tremendously solid construction. There was usually a facing of 
brick or stone, and behind this was a wall of rubble — a mixture of 
mortar and small stones — of enormous thickness. Three feet of 
this material was nothing unusual. The forces which nature 
brought to bear upon this construction show in the result that the 
buildings might as well have been made of sand in the same quanti- 
ties, held together between surfaces of cardboard. This explains 
w^hy the ruins of Messina made such an enormous mass,. The build- 
ings averaged four or five stories in height, and the scrap heaps that 
remained were at least two stories above the street level, including 
the material in the roadway itself. 

Another peculiarity was the following. An earthquake has 
usually some general direction, north and south, east and west, or 
between these points. Not so this convulsion. The debris fell in 
all directions, and invariably into the street, unless the front walls 
failed to give way, in whatever direction the buildings faced. It 
v/as the vertical motion, apparently, that was most destructive. The 
horizontal shaking loosened everything, and then the violent tossing 
brought the whole construction to the ground. 

Among the most lamented results of the disaster was that of 



78 THE FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKE OF ipo8 

the destruction of the great cathedral, the pride of the city. It had 
suffered seriously in former convulsions, but in none so severely as 
in this, which left it almost an utter ruin. Its priceless relics of art 
and antiquity, representing the enormous value of $10,000,000, lay 
under the wreck, and its twenty-two splendid granite columns, said 
to have come from a temple of Neptune, near the Forum at Rome, 
lay prostrate and in shattered pieces. The remaining churches of 
the city suffered a like fate, and all the largest and best buildings of 
the city went down in irreparable ruin. 

As for the loss of life from this dread disaster, it may probably 
never be known. The figures for Messina were estimated some weeks 
later at 108,000, and those for Reggio at 28,000. There remained 
those for Palmi, San Giovanni, Scylla, Gallina, Bagnara, Pellaro, 
and numerous other places, probably making the gruesome total not 
less than 200,000, possibly more. The principal hotel at Messina, 
much frequented by foreign tourists, proved a death trap for its 
many guests, among whom it was feared there were many Ameri- 
cans. It fortunately proved that none were there at the time, and 
the only loss to America was the greatly regretted one of the United 
States Consul Arthur S. Cheney and his wife, who were crushed to 
death in the fall of the consulate residence. Stuart K. Lupton, the 
Vice-Consul, was just then living in another house, and to this 
fact he owed his life. 

It may be said in conclusion of this chapter that those who 
perished immediately or died under the ruins from their wounds 
formed only a part of the loss of life. Many of the rescued were so 
seriously injured that their recovery was hopeless, and fully 5,000 of 
them had died in the hospitals of the several cities within three 
weeks of the date of the disaster. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Gigantic Tidal-wave and Its Sweeping 

Destruction. 

IT was not alone the earthquake, but the seaquake, — a profound 
uphfting of the ocean bottom and pouring on shore of huge 

billows, — to which the destruction of the great Sicilian disaster 
was due. This irruption of the sea-waves and overflow of miles of 
inhabited country was one of the greatest in history, but preliminary 
to its description, some account of similar convulsions will doubtless 
prove of interest and value. 

There are many interesting examples on record, of which that 
of the great earthquake at Lisbon was the most destructive to human 
life, while the convulsion which drowned so much of the city and 
so many of its inhabitants, was felt by vessels fifty miles distant on 
the Atlantic. In other cases ships eighty miles at sea have felt 
shocks that came like sudden blows on their bottoms, accompanied by 
a noise resembling "a dull rattle like thunder." This blow-like 
effect is common, it feeling in some cases as if the ship was ground- 
ing, in others like a number of sharp jerks on the cable. On February 
10, 1 716, the vessels in the harbor of New Pisco were so violently 
shaken that masts and ropes were broken, while the water lay still. 
Even cannon have been jerked up and down from the deck by these 
sudden blows of the underlying water. 

In the instances stated there was no disturbance of the surface 

(79) 



8o THE GIGANTIC TIDAL-WAVE 

of the water, but earthquakes have often been accompanied by waves 
of enormous size, as witnessed in the flooding of Messina and the 
drowning out of Reggio. In some cases the sea-wave has preceded 
the earthquake, as at Smyrna in 1852. At St. Thomas, in 1868, the 
convulsion began by the receding of the water. Then, after the land 
shock, the water returned in a wave so high as to lift the United 
States ship Monongahela and leave it high and dry on shore. In 
the same year another large United States ship, the Wateree, was 
swept a mile inland by the sea wave — or tidal wave, as these are 
commonly called — that inundated Arequipa. As regards the Lisbon 
earthquake, the waves ran from thirty to sixty feet high. 

With this preliminary review of the subject, we shall describe 
the phenomena observed on the Sicilian and Calabrian coasts in the 
recent disaster, as told by eye-witnesses. 

THE SWEEP OF THE WATERS. 

At the time of the earthquake the torpedo boat Sappho was 
lying in the harbor at Messina, and one of the officers told of the 
occurrences as follows: 

"At half past five in the morning the sea suddenly became 
terribly agitated, seeming literally to pick up our boat and shake 
it. Other crafts nearby were similarly treated, and the ships looked 
like bits of cork bobbing about in a tempest. 

"Almost immediately a tidal wave of huge proportions swept 
across the strait, mounting the coasts and carrying everything before 
it. Scores of ships were damaged, and the Hungarian mail boat 
Andrassy parted her anchors and went crashing into other vessels,. 
Messina bay was wiped out and the sea was soon covered with masses 
of wreckage, which was carried off in the arms of the receding 
waters." 



THE GIGANTIC TIDAL-WAVE 8i 

At Riposto, south of Messina, the tidal wave was terrific. At 
first the sea receded for a great distance from the shore and then it 
swept forward with tremendous violence. The water, advancing in 
a huge wave, swept before it every house and building for a thou- 
sand feet from the shore line. The waters rushed through the 
streets of Riposto to a depth of from ten to twenty feet. 

One observer tells his story of the sea spectacle in these vivid 
words : 

*T looked seaward and was transfixed by the most terrifying 
sight of all. A wave was advancing toward the city that grew as it 
approached, until it seemed as high as the lighthouse. It tumbled the 
ships about like toys, turning them turtle or tossing them on their 
beam ends. It came with tremendous velocity, but it seemed an age 
to me before it swept over the lighthouse, tearing away the piers like 
paper and swallowing the shore front. Far inland it swept, ex- 
tinguishing many of the fires." 

In the narrow strait the Avater formed into a huge wave, thirty- 
two feet high. It then drew back from the coast as if gathering 
strength for an onslaught that would obliterate the land. So violent 
was the motion of the atmosphere coincident with the tidal wave that 
several workmen engaged in digging a pit on the Calabrian side of 
the strait were carried bodily up into the air. 

Suddenly, stopping in its backward sweep, the waters of the 
strait hurled themselves upon the two coasts. Inexorably they ad- 
vanced, and piers, houses and gardens were swallowed up in the 
flood. The ground for a great distance trembled under the shock 
of the impact. A naval ofiicer who witnessed this awe-inspiring 
spectacle described it in these words : 

'Tt seemed as if two mountains, one of water and the other of 



82 THE GIGANTIC TIDAL-WAVE 

land, fell furiously, the one towards the other, and as if the land 
vomited human inhabitants into the sea." 

All along the straits similar scenes were witnessed. Reggio 
suffered frightfully. A captain of carabineers, who saw it shortly 
after the disaster, said : 

"The town was not swallowed up by the earth as at first re- 
ported, but the sea rolled in a mighty wall of water and engulfed it. 
I don't think more than a few hundred escaped out of the entire 
population. I doubt if any one escaped in the lower part of the town, 
which is under the deepest waten The water receded from some of 
the higher points of the city. The lower part of the town is rapidly 
settling and it was feared when I left that it would drop into the 
sea." 

Fortunately the disaster did not prove on later advices to be 
so complete as here stated, but with all ameliorations it was terrific 
and soul-harrowing. Later advices concerning it stated: 

"The tidal wave that swept into Reggio flooded the city to a 
depth of thirty or forty feet above sea level,. Some of the houses 
along the water front were swept from their foundations and drag- 
ged out to sea. Twelve miles of the railroad near Reggio were 
destroyed. A tempest added to the terror of the scene. 

"The region between Rocella, Jonica and Caulonia, not far 
from Reggio, is still flooded. The sea front at Reggio has been 
completely swept away, according to statements of refugees. The 
harbor is filled with wreckage from vessels of every kind and it is 
impossible to approach Reggio by sea or by land. 

"With the horrible inrush of the sea, the swallowing up of boats, 
the crushing of ships and the destruction of bridges and walls, the 
sea became almost instantly covered with debris containing refuse 



THE GIGANTIC TIDAL-WAVE 83 

of every description dotted with human bodies. When day dawned 
the entire shore hne of the surrounding country was utterly changed 
in appearance. The coast line was greatly altered, while of all the 
magnificent houses along the shore only a few tottering ruins 
remained. From these ruins from time to time there sprang jets 
of flame and smoke." 

At Catania the tidal wave sunk 500 boats and did great damage 
to several large vessels and steamers. At Messina a ferryboat 
moored at one of the docks seemed suddenly to be thrown high into 
the air. It landed on top of the dock and was left hanging there by 
the receding waters. This was the first intimation of the crew that 
anything had happened. A Russian vessel lying in the harbor was 
thrown into the street. Other vessels foundered. Railway lines 
were swallowed up. The square known as the Campo Santo col- 
lapsed and sank,. 

Pulco, a chemist of Messina, had the following experience. He 
had risen early and was crossing the strait from Messina to Reggio 
at 5.30 o'clock on Monday morning. The boat had reached the 
middle of the strait when he suddenly became aware, as he stood 
on the deck, that the sea was greatly agitated. The next moment a 
great chasm opened in the water, and the boat dropped seemingly 
forty or fifty feet. Pulco believes that it touched bottom. Then it 
was picked up by a huge wave and hurled high up on a mountain 
of water, only to descend into the trough again, where it again 
appeared to strike the bottom. 

Most of the people on board were swept off and drowned. The 
boat was badly wrecked, but it floated ashore. Pulco was still on 
board. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Harvest of the Fire Demon and the Ghoulish 
Robbers of the Victims. 

FOLLOWING the earthquake shock in Messina, as in the case 
of the overthrow of San Francisco, a few years before, fire 
broke out in all quarters and threatened to finish the work of 
ruin which the earthquake had begun. Though the sea rushed on 
shore in a fierce tidal wave and torrential rains deluged the streets, 
the flames made their way in many places, with the dire effect that 
numbers of those buried beneath the ruins died a terrible death from 
the devouring flames. 

With the water pipes destroyed, no effort could be made to stay 
the fire, while from the gas pipes rent by the upheaval, new 
centres of conflagration began, adding scores of small fires to the 
general destruction. The soldiers bent every effort to check the 
sweep of the flames, but, handicapped as they were by the lack of 
water, and by explosions of gas, the extinguishing of the fire proved 
a diflicult task, and several days passed before it was accomplished. 
Sailors from the warships in the harbor lent their aid in this work, 
but the fires continued to burn in some quarters till there was nothing 
combustible left to consume. The torrential rains helped in this 
task and prevented the conflagration being as destructive as it might 
otherwise have proved. 

As the Ebro, one of the rescuing vessels, steamed through the 

(84) 



THE HARVEST OF THE FIRE DEMON 85 

Straits, many scenes of horror and anguish could be seen from her 
deck. As the darkness settled down upon Messina the conflagration 
that was fast destroying what remained of the doomed city was 
luridly visible, and only a skeleton of a house here and there could 
been seen upright in the gloom- 
As the Ebro moved onward it was seen that many once lively 
villages on the neighboring shores had been completely obliterated, 
or were nothing more than heaps of shapeless ruins with occasional 
flames springing up to show where they once had stood. 

As in all cases of human suffering, and calamity, the brood of 
born brigands w^ho usually lie dormant in the lowest depths of the 
haunts of civilization were quick to take advantage of the situation, 
broke loose from the restraint of the law and the police powers, and 
began the career of looting and outrage which invariably takes 
place in such situations. The latest historical instance of this 
invariable outbreak of the wild passions of greed and brigandage 
Avas in the San Francisco catastrophe. There it was checked aa 
quickly as possible by the stern hand of the powers of order, and 
a similar series of events marked the terrors of the Messina earth- 
quake. 

The prison at Messina collapsed at the first shock. The con- 
victs numbered about 650, many of whom were killed, but the sur- 
vivors made their escape and joined the vandals who were sacking 
the city. Such confusion reigned that the robbers met with no 
resistance. The local chief of police lay dead in the rooms of his 
office. Everywhere ghoul-like figures flitted in the semi-darkness, 
risking their lives among the tottering ruins, fiendishly striving to 
profit by the disaster. They w^ere vandals robbing the dead and 
dying and acquiring possessions which they had no means of pro- 
tecting or conveying away. 



86 THE HARVEST OF THE FIRE DEMON 

The robbers pillaged the ruins of shattered buildings, and even 
stole clothing and valuables from the corpses of the victims. They 
were not deterred by the flames that broke out in several sections of 
the city, but took advantage of the light for their vandalism. The 
night in Messina was one of horror indescribable — fire, robbery, 
dead and dying on every side, the city in the utmost confusion and 
the people panic-stricken and under a spell of terror. 

Severe measures were at once taken to check this outbreak of 
vandalism, the police and soldiers being ordered to shoot the looters 
on sight, but the wild hope for gain led them to defy and resist the 
authorities, fierce fights, some of them fatal, taking place. Thus 
it was reported that six Russian sailors had been shot by thieves 
while trying to prevent their nefarious work. On the other hand 
a Russian sailor was said to have shot one of the thieves upon whom 
were found valuables estimated to be worth $27,000. 

For two days the bandits had the upper hand, the scum of the 
populace being in control and dead and dying alike being victims 
of their merciless depredations. One was shot while trying to tear 
a ring from the finger of a dying woman and about sixteen others 
were slain in the midst of their work. They grew so defiant as to 
engage in a pitched battle with the sailors and custom officers, and 
only after the arrival of troops did the authorities gain the upper 
hand. It was necessary to proclaim martial law, as there were no 
other means of dealing effectively with the pillagers, one of whom 
was found in possession of $20,000 in bank notes. 

THE GHOULS UNDER CONTROL. 

Several days passed before the reign of disorder could be 
checked, it being finally accomplished by the efforts of General 



THE HARVEST OF THE FIRE DEMON 87 

Mazza, in command of the troops sent to preserve order. Here is 
his story of the work he had to perform : 

"What especially preoccupies me is the succession of thefts 
since the first day of the disaster. Hundreds of native and foreign 
malefactors have poured into the devastated district searching 
among the ruins for bodies to despoil or treasure to sack. The 
dead have been found with fingers cut off to remove rings and with 
ears torn to remove ear pendants. 

"Many signs of robbery have been discovered in half ruined 
houses which the thieves penetrated during the days of general 
fright and disorder. The other night a group of peasants who 
wanted to enter Messina for evident motives of theft fired at three 
carabineers, wounding one serioiisly. 

"Every day since the state of siege, which I intend to maintain 
vigorously, the military tribunals have distributed the gravest 
penalties to hundreds of persons suspected of theft. All the severity 
of the military regime will be invoked against those in whose posses- 
sion are found objects of value or money of which they can give 
no satisfactory account. 

"In order to clear the city of criminals, my programme is to 
allow no one to enter the city except those whose interests make it 
absolutely necessary, and to them I shall give an escort of sailors 
and soldiers to guard against any harm to public or private property. 
The city will be emptied as much as possible of inhabitants — above 
all, the vagabonds — who obstruct the work of the authorities. The 
vagabonds will be ejected, while I will try to persuade the inhabit- 
ants to go to nearby villages or to construct huts outside of the 
town." 

Despite all efforts, however, the looters in places continued their 



88 THE HARVEST OF THE FIRE DEMON 

work, defying the bullets of the soldiers in their eagerness for illicit 
gain, and in some instances not hesitating to murder the helpless 
survivors for the purpose of theft. And even after the rigid 
enforcement of martial law in Messina complete anarchy prevailed 
in the outlying regions, as yet left without police or military guards. 
While the fires apparently had been extinguished, they were 
lying latent under the ruins, and, fanned by a high wind on the night 
of January i8th, they broke out again on the following day in a 
furious blaze that assumed formidable proportions before it could be 
checked. It started near the remains of the City Hall and the Bank 
of Italy, and during the afternoon spread over a large area, making 
its way to the shore and threatening the vessels at the docks. The 
remains of the Pennisi Palace fell in and added to the conflagration, 
an odor of burning flesh mingling with the smoke and exciting the 
fear that persons still alive were being consumed,. A large section 
of the quay-side walls fell in during the progress of the fire, the lack 
of water and the absence of open spaces to check the flames render- 
ing the work of the fire-fighters very difficult. Late in the evening 
the fire burned itself out, all the inflammable material within its 
reach being consumed, and probably a large amount of valuable 
materials buried in the debris being destroyed. The Duke of Genoa 
had a narrow escape from being buried under a falling wall while 
assisting in the work. When the flames at length died out an enor- 
mous gap had been opened amid the ruins in that part of the city. 



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EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR THE SUFFERING. 

As quickly as possible temporary hospitals were erected in the least devasted 

open places of Reggio and Messina. United States Amabssador 

Griscom took a leading part in forwarding the necessities 

of life to the homeless and the injured survivors. 



^i^' 





DEATH IN THE FIRE. 
Hundreds of bodies of persons who were unable to escape the flames were gathered and 

buried by the soldiers and marines. 



CHAPTER VIIL 

The Panic Flight of a Homeless Host. 

THE first moment of the fearful earthquake shock was one of 
stupefaction. It came so utterly without warning, waking 
thousands violently from profound slumber to a terrifying 
vision of sudden death, their houses rocking beneath them, ceilings 
and floors falling, walls being precipitated into the streets, furniture 
hurled in every direction, numbers of those who were not flung to 
immediate death screaming in mortal terror or moaning and groan- 
ing in pain. 

Starving, bleeding from injuries and almost insane from their 
terrifying experiences, Messina's survivors fled wildly in all direc- 
tions. The spectacle presented by the ruined seaport was described 
as terrifying. Tumbling buildings killed and mutilated thousands, 
while hundreds of the injured imprisoned in the wreckage were 
abandoned to their fate by the fleeing populace. One of those who 
escaped said: 

"The earth seemed suddenly to drop and then turn violently 
on its axis. The whole population, who practically were precipitated 
from the houses rent in twain, were spun around like tops as they 
ran through the streets. Many fell crushed to death, and others, 
bewildered, took refuge for breath beside the tottering walls, where 
they soon met the fate of their companions." 

Many of the fugitives were for a while imprisoned in their 

(89) 



90 PANIC FLIGHT OF A HOMELESS HOST 

ruined homes, the tumbled heaps of refuse making egress impossible. 
Darkness still lay over all, and, fearing to move lest they should 
bring down death upon their heads, many waited in trembling terror 
for the coming of the light of day. Then they made their way 
out, often with terrifying perils and difficulties, clambering up 
inclined floors covered with wreckage and over numberless obstruc- 
tions until the streets were reached. Often they were forced to 
leave behind them pleading and weeping victims, so deeply buried in 
the wreckage that it was impossible to aid them,. Most of those 
who escaped were injured, and for the living unfortunates who 
remained a dreadful death seemed to impend, from the creeping 
tongues of flames that shot redly upward from a thousand places and 
threatened to make the whole stricken city their prey. 

THE DISTRACTED FUGITIVES. 

The streets were a terrible scene. Walls still crumbling down 
at intervals, people wandering about in distraction, some of them 
utterly frenzied, thousands of them fleeing in wild terror for the 
open country, thousands more gathering along the muddy beaches 
on either side the ruined city seeking food or trying to get away 
by sea, while many children died from exposure, and madnes^ 
attacked numbers of the frenzied populace. Wounded, half-naked, 
famished, in their hunger they were seen to seize dogs, tear them 
to pieces and ravenously devour the raw flesh. 

The search for food, in fact, became a horror as the days went 
on and only meagre supplies reached the city. A frightful scene 
occurred at Messina amid the ruins of the custom house. Bands 
of famished individuals were groping among the debris in the hope 
of discovering food. The first of the searchers who were successful 



PANIC FLIGHT OF A HOMELESS HOST 91 

were attacked by others with revolvers and knives, and were obliged 
to defend their finds literally with their lives. 

The suffering was intensified by the lack of drinking water. 
The water system was entirely demolished. These survivors 
assuaged their thirst by rinsing their mouths with sea water. The 
wounds of the injured had to be washed with sea water. Grocers' 
shops were ransacked for mineral water or anything else to drink. 

Here is the experience of one observer of the scene of mad- 
dened distraction: 

'T have w^itnessed shocking episodes enacted by famished sur- 
vivors and have myself felt the pangs of hunger. For long hours 
I had nothing to eat except a few lemon rinds picked up from the 
mud and have sought desperately for a morsel of bread. On ap- 
proaching the military authorities I was sent to a place among the 
ruins where the municipal assessor, surrounded by a howling mob, 
was distributing tickets for bread and raw meat. A desperate 
struggle was going on. 

"The soldiers had requisitioned a few oxen, horses and asses — 
lean, wounded and dying animals, which they hurried ofif to the 
seashore, slaughtered and cut them up with bayonets. Pieces were 
distributed among the people, who with difficulty were kept back by 
the soldiers with their rifles. No sooner was one piece, still warm, 
received than it was torn to shreds by ten eager mouths, and the 
people struggled on the ground for any morsels that fell." 

REFUSE TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES. 

While the exodus of the terror-stricken was going on there 
were others affected by a different sentiment. They clung dis- 
tractedly to the sites of their homes, refusing to leave the heaps 



92 PANIC FLIGHT OF A HOMELESS HOST 

of ruins within which they had Hved, crying out that their only 
safety lay in fidelity to the wrecks of their houses. Force was in 
many cases necessary to get them to the ships in the harbor, which 
were as rapidly as possible carrying the fugitives to places of safety. 

The most distressing feature of the scene was the appalling 
disorganization of the rescue work in Calabria. While active 
efforts at succor were made in Messina, the opposite coast was left 
unaided, and until Friday night not a morsel of food had arrived 
to relieve those who for four days had been suffering the pangs of 
hunger. So widespread was the disaster, that it was impossible 
at first to cover the whole field. 

"You who are in authority, tell the Government to take us away 
from here or have us all shot to end our suffering!" shrieked the 
famished, wounded, desperate survivors at Reggio, crowding around 
Deputy Lamagua when he appeared among them. 

Every effort was made to do this. Ships crowded the harbors 
carrying away numbers of the survivors to Naples, to Catania, to 
Palermo, to every region where help could be hoped for. Naples 
especially was filled with them, and its hospitals were crowded with 
the injured. 

CAMPS EVERYWHERE. 

In the realm of ruin and its vicinity all that was possible was 
done to care for the refugees. Camps were rigged up everywhere, 
and scores of children were playing a fcAv steps from the terrible, 
wrapped-up bundles, containing the bodies of the dead. Wooden 
huts were put up in avenues and squares for the survivors, some of 
whom were in disabled cabs, some under mere stretchers of rags. 

"A few steps further on might be seen bodies laid at street 
corners and left unwatched. Then more of such open-air charnel 



PANIC FLIGHT OF A HOMELESS HOST 93 

houses at every turn. Here were dozens of corpses in a row ; there 
fifty, further on perhaps a hundred, and close by the survivors — 
hundreds around a fire. 

At the other end of the town were larger camps. The Piazza 
della Porta-Bassa was crowded with tents. Mothers nursed their 
babies by gypsy fires on which rations cooked while the children 
played about unheeding. All were clad in strange and many-colored 
odd garments. Rich and poor were mingled and one could not tell 
who in the crowd might be a rich Sicilian noble or who a poor servant 
from his abode. Misery made comrades of them all and reduced 
them to one common level. 

We shall conclude this story of the refugees by an extract from 
a letter written by Mrs. Q. F. Powers, an American lady then in 
Naples : 

"What fearful things have happened here ! We are in the midst 
of such suffering and want. We go daily to the Hospital Marie 
Jesu to wash and comb and feed the poor creatures who are brought 
here by the hundreds from Messina. All hospitals will soon be full, 
and most of them are now. The unhurt natives are in the schools, 
sleeping on straw. This morning we were working over them. 
The women seemed to have suffered the most and have their hair and 
ears full of mud and stones and blood. Those who are not badly 
wounded may have their hair combed and we are sent to do this. 
This hospital, having an English nurse at its head, is a poor, com- 
fortless place. Among the victims here is one poor woman who had 
lain one and a half days in a room under the debris with her two 
boys, one six and the other ten years old, almost dead. She and her 
husband were saved. She was badly cut and bruised, but remains 
quiet and uncomplaining." 



CHAPTER IX. 

A Wonderful Record of Thrilling Escapes. 

SHUDDERING under the recollection of what seemed a night- 
mare rather than actual reality, many of the survivors of the 
frightful calamity, especially those at Messina, have tried to 
picture in words of graphic intensity the hour of horror and the 
succeeding day of terror which followed the catastrophe which over- 
came them on that dread morn of December 28. They recount the 
roar of falling structures and the pitiful cries and groans of those 
pinned beneath the timbers of collapsing buildings. They speak of 
climbing over dead bodies in their ruined homes and making their 
way by tortuous avenues through the streets, heaped with the debris 
of a fallen city. They tell of the caravan of homeless fugitives in 
their wild flight to the fields and hills for safety, and some of their 
accounts seem to reach the climax of dramatic presentation of human 
peril and half-insane terror. 

MESSINA AN INFERNO. 

A graphic story of the disaster was told by a woman who was 
brought to the hospital at Catania in a badly wounded condition : 

" TnfernaF is the only word that will absolutely describe the 
fearful and terrifying scene," she said. 

"When the first shock came most of the city was fast asleep. 
I was awakened by the rocking of the house. Windows swayed 

(94) 



WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 95 

and rattled, and crockery and glass crashed to the floor. The next 
moment I was violently thrown out of my bed to the floor. 

"I was half stunned, but knew that the only thing to do was to 
make my way out of doors. The streets were filled. Everybody 
had rushed out in their night clothes, heedless of the rain falling 
in torrents. Terrified shrieks arose from all sides, and we heard 
heartrending appeals for help from the unfortunates pinned beneath 
the ruins. 

"Walls were tottering all around us, and not one of my party 
expected to escape alive. My brothers and sisters were with me, 
and in a frenzy of terror we groped our way through the streets, 
holding our own against the panic-stricken people, clambering 
over piles of ruins, until we finally reached a place of comparative 
safety. But this was not done before I was struck down and badly 
injured by a piece of furniture that fell out of the upper story of a 
house. 

"All along the road we were jostled by scores of fleeing people, 
half-clad like ourselves. The houses seemed to be crashing to the 
ground in whatever direction we turned. 

"Suddenly the sea began to pour into the town. It seemed to 
me that this must mean the end of everything. The oncoming 
water rolled in in a huge wave, accompanied by a terrifying roar,. 

"The sky was aglow with the reflection of burning palaces and 
other buildings, and as if this was not enough, there suddenly shot 
up into the sky a huge burst of flame, followed by a crash that 
seemed to shake the whole town. This probably was the gas works 
blowing up. 

"Eventually we reached the principal square of Messina. Here 
were found 2,000 or 3,000 utterly terrified people assembled. None 



96 WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

of us knew what to do. We waited in an agony of fear. Men and 
women prayed, groaned and shrieked. I saw one of the big build- 
ings fronting on the square collapse. It seemed to me that scores 
of persons were buried beneath the ruins. Then I lost conscious- 
ness, and I remember no more." 

A STEAMSHIP AGENT'S EXPERIENCE. 

Achille Carrara, agent of the General Steam Navigation Com- 
pany in Messina, gives the following account of his experiences: 

"Frantic with terror I shouted for my wife, my children and my 
servants, and assembled them under the arch of the window. The 
house rocked, but it remained erect. We dressed in darkness and 
blinding dust, while everything heaved about us. We staggered 
down the reeling staircase to the street. 

"The street was choked with the ruins of the surrounding build- 
ings, and masonry was falling. The injured were shrieking from 
their tombs beneath the wreckage, and the ground was split up every- 
where. Horror was piled on horror, and inky blackness pressed 
upon us with here and there a flame shooting out from among the 
wreckage;. 

"At daylight we found our way to the harbor, where the tidal 
wave had thrown the water 14 feet above the quay and broken every 
vessel adrift. The harbor was full of wreckage, casks and capsized 
skiffs. Four steamers, which had been flung on the quay, had been 
refloated as the great wave receded, and were hanging by their 
anchors. They were the Ebro, Drake, Varez and another. We 
hailed the Drake, and were taken aboard and well attended to. 

"Later the captain of the Drake sent a party with me to rescue 
my relatives, who lived in the north end of Messina. 



WONDERFUL KECORJ) OF THRILLING ESCAPES 97 

"The British consulate was found to be a mere dust heap. I 
located what had been my brother's house, and after digging for 
hours with our hands succeeded in breaking our way through the 
fallen masonry, beams, rafters and broken furniture. We rescued 
my brother, his wife and child and eighteen other persons. We 
found no trace of my father, mother, grandmother, sister or aunt, 
and all must have been crushed under the ruins of the three houses." 

DR. DENTICE's story. 

Dr. Dentice, chief of the governor's cabinet, who lived in the 
aristocratic quarter of the town, some distance back from the sea, 
had an interesting story to tell. While his house did not fall, it was 
severely shaken. He happened to be awake at the moment of the 
quake, and was flung from his bed before he could get to his feet 
voluntarily. He called to the others, and all managed to get down- 
stairs, while the shaking continued with ever-increasing violence. 
They were delayed slightly in leaving by an injury to an old aunt, 
whom they were obliged to half drag, half carry with them. The 
last and worst paroxysm was finishing as they reached the street, 
and to this delay they probably owed their lives, for they escaped the 
danger from falling masonry. The house was almost at the corner 
of a small square, and to that they hastened. There they stood in 
utter darkness for two hours, listening to the death throes of the 
dying city. 

When asked what was the effect upon him and his companions 
of those two hours of suspense and what they did, he replied: 

"We did nothing. We stood silent in the rain — dull, dazed, 
half-stupefied. I do not remember feeling any keen emotion, not 
even of fear. I think we all passed into a condition of submissive 



98 WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

indifference. With the slow coming of dayHght, our faculties 
awakened. The gloom revealed little until actual sunrise, and then 
we strove to make our w^ay to the lower part of the town and the sea 
front. 

"We found, to our astonishment, that we were prisoners. 
Every street leading from the square was piled twenty feet high 
with impassable ruins. We imagined that we alone were the victims 
of this isolation, and we looked for the speedy coming of soldiers or 
relief parties. We had no suspicion of the truth until two hours 
later, when I saw a priest a little distance down one street. I 
shouted to him to know what was the situation elsewhere. 

" 'Messina is no more !' came back the answer. Even then I 
failed to comprehend the extent of the disaster, but I began to 
struggle over the debris toward the shore. I reached it after about 
an hour, and then I realized that the priest had not exaggerated/' 

A woman who escaped unhurt from Messina told of her experi- 
ence. 

"We were all sleeping in my house, when we were awakened 
by an awful trembling which threw us out of our beds. I cried 
out that it was an earthquake, and called to the others to save them- 
selves, while I quickly pushed a few clothes into a valise. The 
shocks continued, seeming to grow stronger. The walls cracked, 
and my bureau split in two and then crashed to the floor, nearh^ 
crushing me. My hands trembled so that I could scarcely open the 
doors. 

"To increase the terror a rainstorm, accompanied by hail, 
swept through the broken windows. Finally, with my brother and 
sister, I succeeded in gaining the street, but soon lost them in the 
mad race of terror-stricken people who surged onward uttering 
cries of pain and distress. 



WONDERFUL KECORIJ OF THRILLING ESCAPES gg 

"During this terrible flight balconies, chimneys and tiles 
showered down upon us continuously. Death ambushed us at every> 
step. Instinctively, I rushed toward the water front, but there 
found the grand promenade transformed into a muddy, miry lake 
in which I slipped and often fell." 

Another survivor of Messina says: 

"I was thrown out of bed. Then the floor of my room col- 
lapsed and I fell into the apartment under me. Here I found a 
distracted woman searching for her sister and son, whom she fotmd 
dead. We remained in the ruins for twenty-four hours, alone, with- 
out food or drink. We made a rough shelter of boards to keep off 
the rain. 

"Our ears were assailed with the cries and moans of the 
wounded. These sounds abated somewhat during Monday night. 
Still no one came to our assistance. We were as in a tomb, with the 
bodies of our children beside us. We could see no one, but every 
time sounds were heard from the street there would come an out- 
burst of piercing cries for help from the injured and pinioned in 
the wreckage. 

"Tuesday morning we ventured forth and were taken aboard 
a vessel in the harbor. We passed over streets that were vast cre- 
vasses and climbed over great mounds of ruins and wreckage that 
were all that remained of the finest palaces of Messina." 

NARRATIVES FROM CALABRIA. 

The Marquis Vincenzo Genoese, a refugee from Palmi, says 
he was awakened by a tremendous roar. It seemed as though the 
house was whirling around like the wings of a windmill. The walls 
of his dwelling cracked and through it came a cloud of suffocating 



loo WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

dust. Stunned, but uninjured, the Marquis tried to escape to the 
streets, but the stairs had collapsed. He descended from a third- 
story window by a rope. 

Walking was difficult, owing to the fact that the streets were 
filled with debris. He assisted in dragging from beneath the ruins 
eighty-six persons, all of them dead. The faces of every one of 
them showed the agony they had suffered. Many had their arms 
across their faces, as though to protect themselves from the falling 
debris. It was necesary to release the prisoners at Palmi, and many 
of them succeeded in making their escape. 

A, correspondent of the Paris Matin, had a harrowing experi- 
ence in his journey from Naples to Messina. He said : 

"My nerves will never recover from the atrocious impressions 
to which they were subjected, and my eyes will retain as long as they 
remain open the vision of death and devastation which oppresses 
them. A mournful silence covers the country like a funeral pall. 

"I proceeded as far as Palmi by train, and thence afoot Six 
or seven inhabitants accompanied me to Tropead, and I decided to 
reach Reggio at whatever cost. Two or three railroad firemen, cut 
off from home while at duty by the catastrophe, were returning to 
seek news of the fate of their families. They preceded me^ brandish- 
ing resinous, smoky torches. We marched in Indian file through 
the tunnel from Palmi to Bagnara, holding hands and stumbling 
over ballast heaps. The roof of the tunnel was cracked ever)-^- 
where, and now and then rocks fell. Whole families were encamped 
around wood fires and smoking torches. Many of them were 
wounded. Men, women and children, stupefied by the catastrophe 
and crouching among the stones, looked at us with vacant glares, 
as if their thoughts were wandering. 

"Some distance along we came upon families roasting sea birds 



WOXVERFUL RECORD OF TH KILLING ESCAPES loi 

which had been killed by the tempest and cast upon the beach. 
Others had the strangest objects packed in sacks. In reply to ques- 
tions as to what had happened at Messina and Reggio, they made 
vague and desolate gestures, and continued to gaze at us like stalled 
oxen. After two hours' march we saw Bagnara, perched on the 
spur of a mountain overhanging the sea. 

"The country house of the Mayor, on the summit of the rock, 
was half tumbled into the sea, but the Mayor was safe. He was 
giving orders for the installation of a telegraph wire in a freight car. 
Every house in the town and surrounding country was in ruins. 
In one I saw tumbled beds and disordered dining rooms. Seated 
on the broken wall was a man selling bread at exorbitant prices, 
amid a chorus of curses and maledictions. Another, demented, 
was trying to dig into the ruins with his fingers. 

"The tunnel beyond Bagnara was impracticable. An enor- 
mous portion of the mountain had fallen and obstructed the road. 
We were forced to walk in the sand, often up to our knees in water. 
Beyond the tunnel the track was torn and the rails twisted. Huge 
rocks and dangerous masses came rumbling down momentarily. 
We decided to climb the mountain and advance across the ravines 
of brushwood. 

"Night fell; the rain was coming down in a deluge. My guides 
marched more with their brains than their legs. I followed me- 
chanically, though ready to drop. At 1 1 o'clock we reached Pavaz- 
zina, a hamlet of 300 inhabitants. Only seven persons remained 
and they were shivering under the shelter of a couple of sheets 
stretched across two olive trees. They asked us pitifully for bread, 
but we ourselves had not eaten since the start, and we knew not 
what to answer ; so we left them hopeless. 

"After eleven hours we had covered only twenty miles, every 



I02 WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

step at the cost of the greatest exertions. Our clothes were soaked 
and the torches had burned out. At Scylla we decided to rest, but 
rest was impossible. The whole coujitryside, except to the north, 
was completely blotted out. Walls were standing, but the interiors 
had collapsed, carrying down the sleeping occupants." 

A refugee's dramatic story. 

Giuseppe Cutroneo, a refugee who made his way to New York, 
told the following dramatic story: 

"I was in the cattle business in Messina, and to this fact I owe 
my life. On the morning of December 28th, I got up at 4. 1 5 o'clock 
to take a trip into the country to buy steers. All was quiet as I left 
my home, Nq. 188 Corso Victor Emmanuel, and walked to the 
station, about a mile distant. 

"The place where I used to buy cattle is called Milazzo. The 
fare from Messina is sixty cents. I got my ticket and boarded 
the train. As it happened, the car in which I took seat was the last 
coach, which stood outside the train shed. Had I taken a forward 
car I doubtless would have been killed. There were eleven or 
twelve other men in the car. Some of us v*^ere about half asleep, 
we had got out of bed so early. 

"Of a sudden the car shot up in the air, falling with a crash 
on one side. A deafening roar filled my head. The air became 
suffocating. My body seemed to grow numb all at once. I don't 
know how long I lay in a sort of stupor before I realized that there 
was a hole over me, through which I climbed out. 

"The spectacle again stupefied me. I thought the world had 
come to an end and that I was in purgatory. I could not at first 
recognize what I saw as Messina. Still the earth trembled and 
quakes came intermittently, each one toppling over walls that had 



WOXDEKFUL RECORD OF TIIKILUNC ESCAPES 103 

been cracked or left standing by the first shock. I looked back at 
the station. It had collapsed, the trainshed had fallen on the for- 
ward part of the train and crushed it almost flat. 

"As soon as I realized that I was still alive I thought of my 
wife and three little children. I rushed back into Messina, although 
now fires had started in all directions. Here would tower the flame 
of a broken gas main, roaring and leaping like a gigantic torch. 
There the wood skeleton of a house blazed like a hundred bonfires 
in one. The air was full of smoke and dust. It was like a fog 
that I groped through. 

"Yet I could see near the shore a great rift, where the earth 
had been torn apart. Into it many of the houses had fallen, catching 
fire as they fell, so that the smoke that rose made the ditch look like 
an elongated volcano. 

"The people running about in the streets acted like lunatics. 
Some were clambering over the ruins in their night clothes, search- 
ing for father or mother, brother or sister. Through cracks the 
people that still lived cried to those they feared were dead. Other 
survivors whom I met had wound around them bits of carpet or bed 
clothes, while others had forgotten all about apparel. 

"I found only a heap of bricks, twisted iron and wood splinters, 
where I used to live. The five stories had tumbled into a heap 
about fifteen feet high. My home Avas in a four-room flat on the 
first floor. It had been buried at the botton;. Without thinking- 
how impossible was the task, I began to dig in the ruins. Down 
below I could hear moans, and they made me work like a madman. 

"I would sometimes think I heard my wife's cry, and I would 
3^ell down into some crevice, Tloria ! Floria ! Here is your Giuseppe !' 
and then I would call to my children — to Diego, my six-year-old 
little boy ; to Tony, who was four, and Natalina, the baby. 



I04 WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

"I was still digging, when some Russian soldiers came and 
asked me if I did not want something to eat. Until then I did not 
know I was hungry ; although I had gone twenty-four hours without 
food. They told me I would go crazy if I stayed around the ruins 
of my home any longer. The Russians were very kind to all of us. 
They really did more than the men from the Italian man of war. 
There were eighty people asleep in that house where I lived, and only 
one or two besides myself escaped. 

*'For two days and a night I wandered about Messina until I 
thought the sights of crime and death would drive me crazy. Ghouls 
began to prey upon the d^ad, digging up corpses to rob them. When 
the soldiers caught these fiends at work they would riddle them with 
bullets. When I got hungry I went to the Russian sailors, and 
they fed me. But for the Russians many of us would have 
died. 

"On the evening of December 28th, about 200 of the survivors, 
including myself, went aboard the Regina Marguarita, which the 
Government had made use of as a transport. We were carried to 
Palermo. Some of us were so nearly naked that we hid in the hold 
of the ship during the voyage. Men wore women's clothes, and 
many women were dressed as men. One prominent politician of 
Messina, who had been driven half insane by seeing his father 
buried alive, walked around clad in a shawl. 

"Many were so sick that we feared they would die. I myself 
became so weak that on reaching Palermo I went to a hospital. On 
my way I met a well-dressed man who, on learning I wanted to 
come to America, gave me $38 for my passage." 

He had only eighty cents on reaching New York, but those who 
heard his tale quickly subscribed $25 for his aid. 



WOXDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 105 

BRIEF NARRATIVES OF ADVENTURE. 

As the Serapin, a German steamer, was leaving Messina with 
a load of refugees, a man made his way to the dock and called 
repeatedly for his wife and children. The people on board listened 
attentively. Then from the vessel came a woman's voice. 

"I am here ! I am here !" 

"Are the children there?" 

"Yes, we are all here." 

But there was no note of joy from the mother. Her heart was 
benumbed by the experiences of the night. 

When the Serapin docked the refugees were found sitting in 
isolated groups. Physically they were utterly exhausted, and seemed 
scarcely conscious of their surroundings. 

One old man was carrying a little girl in his arms. The child 
was covered with blood. "Is that your child?" he was asked. "No," 
he replied. "A^esterday I found her on the pavement in Messina. No 
one claimed her, and I could not abandon her. I have had her in 
my arms ever since." Then the old man became oblivious to every- 
thing around him. 

There was one girl on board the German steamer, her clothing 
tattered and torn, who had saved a canary bird. She was a music 
hall singer. Her pet had clung to her throughout the terrible scenes 
and perched on her finger the bird was chirping merrily. It was 
the only happy thing on board that ship. 

A soldier named Emilio de Castro related that on Sunday, the 
day before the disaster, he was taken sick and was sent to the mili- 
tary hospital. Earty Monda}^ morning he was awakened by a tre- 
m.endous roaring sound. He felt himself falling, and he thought 
he was in the grip of a nightmare. It seemed to him that he had 
awakened in hell, for the air was filled with terrifying shrieks. 



io6 WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

He soon realized, however, what was happening. His bed 
struck the floor below. It paused a moment, and was again pre- 
cipitated. He struck the next floor, but this gave way at once, 
and thus man and bed came down from the fifth floor to the ground. 
He was not injured. 

PARROT SAVED TWO WOMEN. 

Here is a story of the work of rescue well worth repeating. 
On the Sunday after the earthquake a party of rescuers heard a 
faint cry of "Maria, Maria," coming from deep down in a great pile 
of rubble. They thought it the voice of a suft'erer in delirium and 
they began to dig. They worked for two hours and finally reached 
a bird cage containing what had once been a bright-plumed bird, 
now bedraggled and dust-covered, but still voluble and lively. The 
diggers were so exasperated that they yanked out the cage and one 
of them suggested that they wring the worthless creature's neck. 

But the removal of the cage uncovered a human hand. The 
hand moved. They fell to work with greater fervor, and presently 
they dragged from the dirt two living women. The doctors at the 
hospital said that both would recover. 

The animals of Messina were equal suft'erers with its human 
beings. Starvation was the fate of nearly all of them. A corres- 
pondent tells the following pitiful stories : 

*T tried to photograph yesterday a small monkey on the top of 
a four-story wall, whence he could not descend, and the pitiful way in 
which he chattered to me as I climbed over the rubbish beneath 
him was almost human. 

"As I passed the door of a warehouse to-day, the interior of 
which had collapsed, I saw two dirty paws sticking out for half an 
inch through a small crack beneath, and there came from within the 



WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 107 

most heartrending wails that a cat's throat could utter. I had 
chicken and meat in my pocket, and I poked half my lunch under the 
crack of that door. The thanks I received were more eloquent than 
any ever given me by human tongue-" 

ODD FANCIES OF SURVIVORS. 

An old woman was released from the wreckage of the Church 
of San Francisco, who did not realize that she had been buried for 
a week. She explained that she thought she was entombed in the 
church after having died a natural death, and that she was living 
in the hereafter. 

Some of the survivors seemed to be quite incapable of helping 
themselves in even the most elementary manner. The following inci- 
dent is a good example of this condition. A correspondent met a 
family consisting of father, mother and five children standing 
practically naked in a small open square. The rain was coming 
down in torrents. 

"For the love of God, help us to get out of this inferno," said 
the father of the family. "That is easy enough," was the reply. 
"Go down to the harbor and you will find boats ready to take you 
away." 

"How can we get there?" was the next question. "On your 
two legs," was answered. 

But the family refused to move, the father explaining that they 
had no umbrella^. It did not occur to him that in their soaked and 
almost naked condition they might safely dispense with umbrellas. 

Here is another story of odd notions told by an observer : 

"A short time after I came upon Signorina Tina Marina, a 
Vv'ell-known opera singer. She was as distracted as the other per- 
sons we had met. In her hand she carried a strange appearing 



io8 WONDERFUL RECORD OF THRILLING ESCAPES 

cage, which upon investigation I found contained a number of live 
canaries. Although they were chirping and hopping about inside 
the covering, she persisted in telling me that all were dead. And 
she would not discuss any other subject." 

One dispatch supplies a touch of humor which almost shocks 
by contrast to the tale of woe;. The Marquis Semmola was impri- 
soned in a Messina cellar which was stocked with provisions. The 
rescue party which was trying to extricate him was bidden to devote 
their efforts to saving his children. 

"Don't think of me," called out the Marquis, "I am in a bar 
with plenty to eat and drink." 

Paolo Riza, Mayor of Capriolo, was in Messina on a pleasure 
trip that fateful morning. The floor of his room fell, and half con- 
scious he was precipitated into a mass- of rubbish. His body lodged 
in a niche in a wall, and he was pinioned by a heavy beam, his face 
being covered by a carpet that threatened to suffocate him. He 
managed to move the carpet with his teeth until he made an opening 
in the folds through which he could breathe. 

The man lay in this position for five hours, expecting death at 
any moment. Had it been possible, he says, he would have com- 
mitted suicide. Once hope sprang up in his breast. A man passed 
by and the Mayor called to him. 

''What do you want?" asked the newcomer. 

"What do I want?" repeated the Mayor. 'Tsn't it clear ? Help 
me out; get me out of here." 

Just at this moment another shock came and the man ran away, 
leaving the Mayor again alone. Finally the proprietor of the hotel 
where the Mayor had been stopping came and eft'ected his release. 



CHAPTER X. 

Italy's King and Queen Hasten to the Scene 
of Desolation. 

No sooner had the news of the disaster at Messina reached 
Rome and come to the ears of King Victor Emmanuel, than, 
in consonance with his record in preceding national calami- 
ties, he decided to proceed at once to Calabria and Sicily and do all in 
his power to further the work of rescue, ordering a special train to 
be made ready to take him as near as possible to the scene of the 
disaster. From this point he designed to make use of any available 
means of transport capable of conveying him to Messina and Reggio. 

He was not to go alone, however. Queen Helena, on hearing 
of his decision, resolved to accompany him, saying that she would 
not give up her privilege of sharing all her husband's dangers. In 
consequence, the King and Queen left Rome together on their errand 
of mercy shortly after one o'clock of the 29th of December. A 
number of Ministers, Senators and Deputies, together with the 
Mayor of Rome, were at the station to bid them farewell. 

Ambassador Griscom was the only diplomat to learn of the 
departure of the King and Queen from Rome. He hurried to the 
railroad station and offered his Majesty condolences in the name of 
the United States, saying that the San Francisco disaster made it 
possible for America to appreciate the calamity that had overtaken 
southern Italy. The King and Queen thanked Mr. Griscom warmly 

(109) 



I 

no ITALY'S KING AND QUEEN HASTEN fo SCENE 

and asked him to convey their appreciation to the American Govern- 
ment and people. 

There was a great crowd at the station to see their Majesties 
go. The women cried and said: "God bless you!" as they bade 
farewell to their sovereigns. 

Among the persons present were a number of Deputies, one of 
whom, desiring to say something effective, remarked : "The presence 
of 3^our Majesty will suffice to control the stricken population." 
Turning sharply upon the speaker, the King abruptly replied : "Don't 
talk nonsense." 

Proceeding by train to Naples, they embarked on the battle-, 
ship Victoria Emmanuale, reaching Messina early on the 30th. They 
at once disembarked and made their way into the ruined city. 

THE KING AND QUEEN AID THE RESCUERS. 

People wept from emotion when they saw the King and Queen 
of Italy come ashore. The women threw kisses to her Majesty and 
both vv^ere practically carried up the pier in the arms of their sub- 
jects. Crowds of the terror-stricken victims swarmed around the 
royal party, prostrating themselves in the mud and crying aloud for 
pity. This reception overcame her Majesty, who almost fainted. 

The presence of tlie King acted as a general inspiration. Even 
the wounded found fresh strength when they learned that his Ma- 
jesty had arrived among them. An aged man who had been aban- 
doned under a beam that apparently had crushed out his life revived 
for a moment at the shouts of greeting to the royal pair. He 
stretched out his hand and raised his head long enough to call out : 
"Now I can die happy. Long life to the King!" He then fell back 
and expired. 



ITALY'S KIXG AiXD QUEEN HASTEN TO SCENE n i 

]\Iany terrible stories were told to the King in connection with 
the work of rescue. The recners had to contend with the 
deep-rooted superstition in the Sicilian mind. In many cases injured 
men and women clung to the crumbling walls, refusing to let go their 
hold and seek a safer position. 

His Majesty, however, lost little time in listening to a recital 
of difficulties. He immediately joined a rescue party and labored 
as unremittingly as the others. His first act was personally to 
extricate several injured persons pinned in the ruins. 

The Queen quickly recovered from her faintness, caused by the 
distressing sights on all sides, and followed the example of her 
husband. She devoted her attention principally to the little chil- 
dren and rescued with her own hands a little boy three years old 
bleeding from many cuts and wounds, and carried him to the dock, 
where she handed him over to members of the hospital corps. 

This work was not without its perils, the King, while standing 
in one of the streets, running great risk of being buried under the 
falling w^alls of a wrecked building. After his work of inspection 
in Messina, he visited all the wrecked villages along the Sicilian 
coast, meeting everywhere the same scenes of desolation,. 

He sought Calabria on the 31st, proposing to make a similar 
inspection of the wrecked towns and villages in that province. 
Reggio was reached in the early morning, and in company with the 
Queen he visited the scenes of wreck and gave directions regarding 
the work of rescue. Then, re-embarking on a warship, he sent the 
following wireless message to Premier Giolitti : 

"I return from Reggio, which I found in a condition no less 
disastrous than that at Messina. The Prefect of Reggio says that 
grave injur}' has been done to the communes of his province. A 



112 ITALY'S KING AND QUEEN HASTEN TO SCENE 

Russian warship with 500 wounded on board will arrive at Naples 
this morning, and everything must be prepared for their landing and 
housing. Another Russian ship will carry wounded to Syracuse. 
It is desirable to provide at Naples a Russian ship with an abundance 
of medical supplies." 

On Friday, New Year's Day, the King took the decisive action 
of removing from office the mayor and chief engineer of Messina, 
charging them with supineness and failure to do their duty in the 
work of rescue of the unfortunates buried in the ruins. 

He continued his own labors in both the ruined cities, and 
Queen Helena, despite his entreaties, refused to return to Rome, 
saying that her post of duty at that dire time was among the 
sufferers. 

The presence of the King gave a great impetus to the relief 
work. At Reggio he walked for hours amid the wreckage, appar- 
entl}'' taking no thought of food or fatigue in his devotion to the 
needs of his subjects. Frequently he lent his hands to the work of 
rescuing some unfortunate victim. 

In one case he discovered a man pinned under the ruins. Only 
his head and shoulders were visible. His Majesty summoned a 
rescue party and while the men were at work he encouraged the 
victim. 

''Sire," moaned the man, "I can wait for deliverance, but in 
God's name give me food and drink." 

Meeting a group of photographers engaged in taking pictures 
of the sad scenes, the King chided them for their occupation. 

"You had much better turn your efforts to succoring the 
afflicted," said he. 

Both Helena the Oueen, and Helena the Duchess of Aosta, were 



ITALY'S KING AND QUEEN HASTEN TO SCENE 113 

born on foreign soil, but the people of Italy could not but worship 
them for their love and devotion, and the unselfish service to the 
stricken sufferers given by these two women of high lineage has made 
them doubly dear to all Italians. This devotion was particularly 
strengthened by the Duchess conveying in her motor car many un- 
fortunate little children from the bare hospitals to her royal palace 
at Capodimonte. 

The Queen looked far from well. She was exhausted, and the 
terrible scenes she had witnessed affected her strongly. She wept 
frequently, and on more than one occasion she covered the hands 
of some unfortunate woman with her tears. With her own liands 
she bound up their wounds, using her handkerchiefs when other 
bandages were lacking. She also gave of her worldly possessions, 
including the rings from her fingers, for their aid and relief. 



THE QUEEN HURT IN HER WORK. 

While engaged in one of the improvised hospitals, Queen 
Helena was hurt as a result of the wild outcry of a crazy man, who 
rushed in screaming : "The end of the world has come. The earth 
has fallen in. Save yourselves! Save yourselves!" 

A wounded woman, to whom the Queen was attending, sprang 
in terror from her bed and started to run to the door. The Queen, 
with great presence of mind, placed herself in front and extended 
her arms to stop her. But the woman was out of her mind with 
fright. She lowered her head and precipitated herself on the Queen, 
driving her head with full force against her Majesty's breast. The 
Queen fell backward. Her mouth became full of blood and this 
bleeding continued for some time. Yet the next day she continued 



114 ITALY'S KING AND QUEEN HASTEN TO SCENE 

her work as usual, although ever}^ now and then her lips were 
reddened with blood. 

On the 3d the King and Queen returned to Rome, but their 
work was not given up, a portion of the Quirinal palace being con- 
verted into a workshop in which a number of women were kept busy, 
under the superintendence of Helena herself, in making clothing 
for the refugees, while the two little princesses, six and seven years 
old, were given a corner in which they occupied themselves in mak- 
ing dolls' clothes for the poor little Calabrian children. The prom- 
ise was made them that, if they did this well, they would be 
promoted to the work of making baby clothes, a promise that filled 
to the brim their cup of pride. The King took his share by placing 
two of the royal palaces at the disposition of those engaged in 
succoring the victims. The quick and warm response of the two 
royal persons to the needs of the suffering did much to endear them 
to their subjects, Sicilian and Italian as well. 



CHAPTER XL 

The Buried Thousands and the Noble Band 
of Rescuers. 

DAY had barely dawned upon ruined Messina, on the fatal 
Monday morning of December 28th, when the hands of 
rescuers were at work in the desolate streets. Only a miser- 
able fragment of the populace had escaped from their fallen homes. 
Of the remainder uncounted thousands lay dead in the ruins- But 
thousands besides were buried alive in the fallen wreck, some of 
them visible, others made known only by their call for help or moans 
of pain, and to save the latter from their living death became a 
duty of immediate and pressing importance. 

Many ships lay in the harbor, and from these, when their crews 
had recovered from the terrifying effects of the tidal wave that had 
lifted and flung the vessels about like corks, the warm-hearted sailors 
landed and lost no time in beginning the noble work of rescue. 

British, French and Russian warships which were near at hand 
were rushed to the harbor and their sailors and marines sent ashore, 
where they at once began the perilous work of removing the 
wounded from the tottering ruins and conveying them to places of 
safety. A large number of the rescued were transferred to these 
and to the Italian warships, which became great floating hospitals, 
doctors and druggists being hurried to the scene. 

The British sailors began their work by saving a family of five 

(115) 



ii6 THE BURIED THOUSANDS AND THEIR RESCUERS 

who were imprisoned in a boarding house, They aided in extract- 
ing many more who were pinioned beneath the mass of wreckage. 
The crews of the Russian ships Bogatyr and Slava were equally 
prompt and efficient, and showed such courage and daring in their 
work among the unsafe ruins as to win the highest commendation, 
their praises being on every lip. They hesitated before no danger, 
digging under tottering walls or entering the unsafest shells when 
asked to do so by some frantic woman who had not lost all hope 
that husband or child was still alive. 

THRILLING INCIDENTS. 

The intrepidity of these heroes from the North led them to dare 
the greatest risks, as the following story shows: 

The incident happened the day following the great quake. A 
party of Russian sailors found in the center of the town the rear 
wall of a four-story house still standing precariously. A foot or 
two of the third and fourth floors remained and upon these narrow 
ledges were clinging two women and three children crying for help. 
There were no ladders and rescue seemed impossible. The brave 
bluejackets did a heroic thing. While one stood on another's shoul- 
der against the outside of the wall, a third carrying a pick, climbed 
over them, and using his implement as an ice pick, drove it into the 
mortar high above his head. By this means he pulled himself up to a 
window sill, released his pick, used it again in the same way to gain a 
nearer window above, and finally reached the terror-stricken refugees 
high in the air. He lowered them with a rope to his comrades 
and then slid down himself. The little party assembled in the nar- 
row courtyard, prepared to depart, and one of the sailors was wrap- 
ping his jacket around one of the almost naked children. At that 
moment the tottering wall fell upon them and killed every one, alike 
the victims so perilously saved and the brave rescuers. 



THE BURIED THOUSANDS AND THEIR RESCUERS 117 

The work of rescue at the home of the British chaplain, Hulatt, 
was most pathetiq. The rescue party, through heroic efforts, had 
succeeded on Saturday in reaching a portion of the ruins from under 
which came groans, indicating that one or more of the inmates of 
what had been a house were yet hving. This fact infused fresh 
vigor into the men, and they worked heroically; but although they 
continued in their efforts until late into the night no success 
rewarded their eft'orts. 

Work was resumed at daybreak Sunday, when the men fell to 
their task with a vim, feeling certain that Hulatt, his wife and four 
children were alive beneath the debris. Only a voice was heard now ; 
and that seemingly in amentation. Still the rescuers, among whom 
were a number of sailors, persevered. Evening fell, and at 8.14 there 
was another distinct shock of earthquake, w4iich rendered the situa- 
tion to those who were endeavoring to give succor extremely danger- 
ous, as the tottering walls about them threatened momentarily to 
collapse and bury them with the victims already there. 

The sailors, however, forgetful of the danger, continued their 
task, refusing to be denied the chance of rescue, and their per- 
sistence was soon rewarded, for they found the bodies of Hulatt and 
one child lying in bed, both dead. The bodies were badly crushed 
and it seemed as though death had been instantaneous,. Undeterred 
by this gruesome find, the men kept hard at work until finally the 
groans beneath the twisted ruins ceased and they were convinced 
that the entire family had perished. Only then the men quit work. 

"is any one there?" 

Everywhere rescue parties of soldiers, sailors, and firemen kept 
unflaggingly at work, their incessant cry, 'Ts any one there." being 
heard on every side as they searched diligently among the ruins. 



iiS THE BURIED THOUSANDS AND THEIR RESCUERS 

A voice, a groan even, in response would set them vigorously at 
work. All those lifted from the wreckage were covered with a man- 
tle of white dust that made them look like living images in plaster. 
So thick was it, that hundreds were probably smothered beneath its 
choking weight. 

Under some wreckage inclosed in a kind of little cubbyhole and 
protected by two heavy beams two little babes were discovered, safe 
and uninjured. They were as comfortable as possible, laughing and 
playing with the buttons on their clothes. No trace could be found 
of their parents, who undoubtedy lost their lives. 

Several children who were taken from the ruins in the first day 
when hunger was not so pressing, cried and kicked until favorite 
dolls or toys were found, and one youngster was found still clasping 
a Teddy bear in his arms. 

A sailor who went ashore at Reggio relates that during his 
work of rescue he was attracted by a sound of infant voices. Look- 
ing under a fallen beam he found twins about a year old in a basket. 
They were uninjured and their clothing was of the best. They 
have not yet been claimed. 

On the Russian warship Tsarevitch, which took many refugees 
to Naples, three babies were born. The Russian officers drank the 
health of each newcomer in champagne. A Russian sailor offered to 
adopt one of the infants, but the mother would not part with it. 

SAD FATE OF CONSUL CHENEY. 

Of the Americans in Sicily, fortunately all escaped death but 
two, these being United States Consul Arthur S, Cheney and his 
wife, who were buried in the ruins of the American consulate. 
Their fate was first discovered by the Vice-Consul Stuart K. Lupton, 



THE BURIED THOUSANDS AND Til FAR RESCUERS i ly 

who escaped from the Hotel Vittoria, wearing only his trousers and 
carrying his shoes and overcoat in his hands,. On his way he met 
a man and woman, both quite naked, and laid the overcoat over the 
woman's shoulders. Reaching the Consular building, he found that 
it had entirely collapsed. Over its ruins he climbed, calling out 
"Cheney! Cheney!" but received no reply. 

He continued feverishly to climb over the ruins, hoping against 
hope, imtil convinced against his will that the Cheneys had perished, 
and were buried beyond reach, a neighboring building having col- 
lapsed upon the ruins of the Consulate. 

Nothing remained to be done but the pitiful work of excavating 
the ruins and recovering their bodies, and a force of sixty soldiers 
were put at work on this task, which proved difficult and dangerous. 
On January 15th, the American battleship Illinois reached Messina 
from the fleet at Suez and a number of sailors were at once sent 
ashore to aid the excavating force. 

During the afternoon they succeeded in uncovering what had 
been the bedroom of the Cheneys and in taking out the bodies, which 
had lain there for eighteen days. There was every reason to believe 
that death had overtaken them while asleep. 

The bodies were at once prepared for shipment and taken on 
board the American supplyship Culgoa to be conveyed to Naples. 
The caskets containing them were sealed and each was wrapped in 
an American flag, American sailors carrying them reverently to 
the water front, while Italian soldiers and sailors saluted and the 
people stood by with lifted hats and saddened faces. Arrange- 
ments were quickly made for their conveyance with due honor to the 
United States, as the sad contribution of this nation to the dire roll 
of dead at Messina. 



CHAPTER XII. 

World-Wide Sympathy and the Universal 
Brotherhood of Man. 

THE heart of man beats responsive throughout the world and 
sympathy for one another in misfortune extends to the ends 
of the earth. Let the occasion arise and the reply is prompt 
and heartfelt. This is especially the case in our days, when the 
means of communication between the nations of all regions and climes 
are so prompt that we learn of disasters in the Antipodes almost at 
the moment of their occurrence, and have them detailed to us in 
such vivid reality that we seem almost to be gazing at them as they 
occur. And our hearts beat with desire to help our brothers of 
whatever race or color, for in these days the universal brotherhood 
of man is almost a thing accomplished, so closely linked are all the 
people of the world by bonds of immediate association. 

A very recent example of this was in the case of the destructive 
earthquake and fire at San Francisco in 1906, when the people of the 
whole United States stood half paralyzed in startled sympathy, feel- 
ing toward the sufferers as though they were brothers in blood, and 
pouring out of their wealth in unstinted profusion for the relief of 
the sufferers. 

These, no doubt, were sons of our own land, linked to us by 
the ties of nationality, but in the case of the frightful volcanic erup- 
tion of Mount Pelee, a few years earlier, and the destruction of 

fl20) 



WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY 121 

St. Pierre with all its inhabitants, the sentiment felt for the victims 
of this disaster was none the less intense and the haste to aid them 
none the less immediate. The same brotherly feeling was manifested 
in that other recent disaster, when the city of Kingston, Jamaica, 
was overwhelmed by a seismic cataclysm and the sympathy and aid 
of the world wxre called for. As might be expected from these 
examples, the terrible disaster in Sicily and Italy, in the closing days 
of 1908, awakened a like heartfelt response. 

The heart of the whole world was touched by the dire disaster 
and the sufferings of the victims, and expressions of sympathy and 
offers of aid came from all the nations of Europe and of those in 
America from Canada to Rio Janeiro, and other capitals of the far 
South. From the rulers came expressions of condolence and from 
their subjects spontaneous contributions of that aid which brings the 
world closer together in times of great calamity. A hundred ships 
and trains, bearing supplies, were quickly on the way to the desolated 
region, and all the Ambassadors and Ministers in Rome hastened 
to express their deep sympathy with Italy in her affliction. 

CONDOLENCE AND RELIEF. 

Among the earliest and promptest to offer condolence and aid 
was the United States, which entered upon the work with a spon- 
taneous activity that promised the best results. The first expression 
of sympathy came in the following cablegram from President Roose- 
velt to the Italian King: 

"His Majesty Victorio Emmanuele, Rome: 

"With all my countrymen, I am appalled by the dreadful calamity 
which has befallen your country. I offer my sincerest sympathy. 



122 WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY 

The American National Red Cross has issued an appeal for contri- 
butions for the sufferers and notified me that it will immediately 
communicate with the Italian Red Cross,. 

"Theodore Roosevelt/' 

The appeal for contributions here mentioned was quickly and 
abundantly responded to throughout our country, as similar appeals 
were being responded to in all the countries of Europe. 

Stricken Italy had brought the nations of the world together in 
a common cause as never before in history. From every quarter 
of civilization relief funds and supplies poured into the country 
desolated by the earthquake, a work marked by a magnitude and 
displaying a unanimity without parallel in all the centuries that have 
gone before. 

Coming at a time of profound and universal peace, and yet a 
time when the various powers were vicing with each other in demon- 
strations of their martial power and greatness, the piteous disaster 
seemed to have suddenly changed the whole rivalry of arms to 
rivalry of mercy instead. All in all, the Italian disaster became a 
greater force towards the accomplishment of peace and brother- 
hood among the nations than the most promising of the conferences 
at the Hague. 

the CELTIC OFF FOR MESSINA. 

The first material response from this country came on December 
31st, when the naval supply ship Celtic, laden with 1,500,000 rations 
for the supply of the fleet then nearing Suez, sailed for Messina 
under orders from the Navy Department at Washington. Admiral 
Sperry, in command of the fleet, had wired from the Red Sea that 



WORLD-WIDE S YMF A TH Y 1 23 

'"the men could wait until after the starving and homeless people of 
Italy were cared for," and in response to his generous request the 
loading of the Celtic was rushed through, and at 3 P. INl,., she set 
sail from New York on her errand of mercy. 

"We will have enough food," said Captain Huse, "to feed 30,000 
people for 100 days. Aboard are 1,500,000 full army rations, which 
can easily be made into 3,000,000 ordinary rations. 

"The lumber and tents are to provide shelter for the homeless. 
Shacks and canvas can be furnished for 50,000 people. Some of 
the tents are those of the hospital service, each one of which can 
shelter a score or more. The Celtic makes about two hundred and 
fifty miles a day, and as the distance to Messina is about 3,200 miles, 
we ought to make the trip in thirteen days." 

In Rome Ambassador Griscom was equally prompt and ardent. 
He chartered for two w^eks an Austrian steamer of 8,000 tons, 
loaded it with medical supplies and provisions, put on it three doctors 
and fifty nurses, and despatched it without delay to the land of 
need. For the $60,000 cost, he looked for reimbursement to the gen- 
erous American people. 

This work of international sympathy was received with expres- 
sions of warm feeling from the King and the Premier of Italy, the 
later saying: 

"What the United States has done on this occasion is magnifi- 
cent, and shall not be forgotten. The United States stands first, 
out-distancing all others in sympathy and generosity. Our grati- 
tude is so great that we cannot find words in which to express it 
fittingly." 

All this was but preliminary. On January 4th, the United 
States Congress spoke for the whole American people in voting the 



124 WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY 

Splendid sum of $800,000 for relief work in Italy, in response to the 
following message from President Roosevelt : 

"The appalling calamity which has befallen the people of Italy 
is followed by distress and suffering throughout a wide region 
among many thousands who have escaped with life, but whose 
shelter and food and means of living are destroyed. The ordinary 
machinery for supplying the wants of civilized communities is para- 
lyzed, and an exceptional emergency exists which demands that the 
obligations of humanity shall regard no limit of national lines. 

"The immense debt of civilization to Italy; the warm and stead- 
fast friendship between that country and our own ; the affection for 
their native land felt by great numbers of good American citizens 
who are immigrants from Italy ; the abundance with which God has 
blessed us in our safety; all these should prompt us to immediate 
and effective relief 

Of this sum, $300,000 was to reimburse the Navy Department 
for the cost of the supplies on the Celtic, already despatched, and 
the Culgoa, which was loading up with supplies at Port Said, pre- 
liminary to starting on the same errand of mercy. 

THE people's aid. 

While the Government thus sprang actively to the aid of 
stricken Italy, the people of our country were similarly engaged. 
Crowds were eager to contribute, the New York fund growing until 
it neared half a million dollars, and other cities adding their quota 
until the total surpassed a million. The Canadian government con- 
tributed $100,000, and every civilized nation of Europe and America 
added generously to the sum total. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Red Cross Society, the Lighthouse of Inter- 
national Charity, Sends Its Beneficent Aid. 

THE tidings of the disaster in Sicily had barely reached the 
nations of the civilized world before the Red Cross Society, 
that international realm of sympathy and charity, was actively 
astir in its work of beneficent aid, bringing all its energies and the 
opportunities of its organization to bear on the collection and 
despatch of funds for the benefit of the earthquake victims. Money 
(lowed with remarkable freedom into its coffers, and flowed out of 
them as freely for the amelioration of the sufiferers from the catas- 
trophe. 

Not only in the United States, but in many other lands, was this 
activity manifested, the International Red Cross Society being an 
informal union between the Red Cross Societies of the several 
nations to work in unison for the relief of the afflicted in every land 
and clime. It is so organized as to make its labors wonderfully 
effective. Every dollar sent, for instance, by the Red Cross of 
America to the Red Cross of Italy, goes by cable order, and is put to 
work at once, the cable order serving the purpose of the money itself. 
Thus almost on the eve of the day of the disaster $50,000 were 
telegraphed under the ocean to Italy, and the cash was there imme- 
diately forthcoming for the purchase of supplies. 

Shall we speak here of the organization of this help-giving 

(125) 



126 THE RED CROSS SOCIETY SENDS AID 

society, in which the best instincts of the age are embodied? A 
brief statement of it will surely be of interest. It originated in the 
several societies previously in existence for the care of the sick and 
wounded in time of war. These had adopted the Red Cross as their 
badge and emblem, and were first brought together as an inter- 
national association at Geneva, in 1863. Other conferences have 
since been held, but the International Committee at Geneva still 
persists, as a central body to facilitate the action of the different 
national societies. 

The Red Cross Society in the United States was organized by 
Miss Clara Barton in 1881, and at once joined the International 
Union. It was due to Miss Barton that disasters of all kinds, such 
as those of flood, famine, pestilence, etc., were added to war in the 
scope of such associations. This broader idea, applied by her to the 
American Society, was immediately adopted by the societies abroad, 
and incorporated among their duties under the name of the "Ameri- 
can Amendment." As a result, the American National Red Cross 
Society has collected and distributed large sums for the relief of 
suffering in such cases of calamity as the Johnstown flood, the 
Russian famine, the Galveston tidal wave, the Mississippi over- 
flows, the Mount Pelee and San Francisco disasters, and on other 
occasions of urgent need of assistance. 

The American Society was definitely organized, under a charter 
granted by Congress, in 1900, and in 1904 was incorporated tmder a 
second act of Congress, Mr. Taft, then Secretary of War, being 
chosen for its president. But it still lacked completeness of or- 
ganization for effective work, the collection and expenditure of 
money being left to local groups, as a rule untrained in such work 
and unprepared for ready and effective aid in a sudden contingency. 



THE RED CROSS SOCIETY SENDS AID 127 

To obviate this weakness in its make up, two new features were 
added at its meeting in December, 1908. The new office of National 
Director was created, its incumbent to be the executive officer of the 
Central Committee, to give his entire time to the work, and to repre- 
sent the Red Cross in the distribution of money or supplies, in any 
case of need. To aid him in this work a new class of members of 
the Society was instituted, these to be called Institutional Mem- 
bers, and to be drawn from the great charitable organizations of 
the country. Thus a trained director would be aided by trained 
assistants, and by the aid of such officials its effectiveness would be 
greatly increased, alike in the collection and distribution of funds 
and the other demands upon its activity. 

It was divided into three departments, those of War Relief, 
Emergency Relief, and International Relief, each under the care of 
a special board. As thus organized, it rose at once to the position 
of one of the most prominent institutions of the country. Mr. Taft 
consenting to be re-elected as its President, it thus has the President 
of the United States at its head,- Mr. Ernest P. Buckness, for eleven 
years General Superintendent of the Chicago Bureau of Charities, 
accepted the position of National Director, and on its War Relief 
Board are officers of the Army and Navy; on its Emergency Relief 
Board, men and women of wide experience in relief work; and on its 
International Relief Board, officers of the United States Department 
of State- 

This statement of the new and effective organization of the 
American Red Cross Society is of immediate interest in view of the 
fact that its services were urgently called for within two weeks from 
the time its improved constitution was adopted. Occupied at the 
time in the war against tuberculosis, for which funds were being 



128 THE RED CROSS SOCIETY SENDS AID 

collected by the sale of the Christmas Red Cross Stamps, a sudden 
and immense test of its improved powers was made a few days later, 
when the tidings of the dire disaster in Sicily and Calabria came on 
the wires under the ocean waves and stirred the heart of Americans 
to that labor of charity to which it is ever ready to respond. 

The branches of the Society both here and abroad lost not an 
instant, leaping into the breach with the alertness and effectiveness 
for which they have long been notable. 

Thoughout the entire United States there was hardly a city, 
village or hamlet which did not join, without a day's loss of time,- 
in the work of raising relief funds for the earthquake sufferers. 
From East, West, North and South came reports of contributions, 
large and small. By midnight it was estimated that many thousands 
of dollars had been subscribed to the fund in the United States. 

From Germany came tidings that its Red Cross Society had dis- 
patched a special car with hospital supplies for the wounded, and 
that a second car was being got ready for sending on the following 
day, the Emperor receiving in farewell audience Dr. Frank Colmers, 
of the Society, whom the German Aid Committee sent at once to 
Italy. 

From other countries similar news was received and it was 
widely evident that the energies of the Society everywhere were 
enlisted in making the prompt response necessary. The first to 
leave America on similar duty was Edmund Billings, of the Massa- 
chusetts Relief Committee, who embarked for Messina for the dis- 
tribution of the funds raised for the sufferers in that State. 

So great was the activity of the American Society that by 
December 31, three days after the news of the disaster was received, 
it already had $100,000 ready for use, and much of it had been cabled 
to the American Embassv at Rome, to be turned over to the Italian 



TlIK Klin CKOSS S(hlE'r\' SKXPS A/ 1) 129 

Red Cross Society. Through the latter Society it was decided that 
all relief for the sufferers should be administered. 

By the fourth of January the fund in the hands of the Society 
had grown to a quarter million of dollars, and this sum Mr. Griscom, 
the American Ambassador to Italy, delivered to Count Taverna, 
head of the Italian Red Cross. Count Taverna was overwhelmed 
and said he would make an exception to the rule which forbids distri- 
buting money through any but Red Cross channels, and he returned 
to the Ambassador $2,000 which he had contributed to the expenses 
of the relief ship. The Count added that one of the greatest diffi- 
culties to be encountered is the prompt distribution of supplies, and 
therefore outside help was warmly welcomed. On the following 
day, January the fifth, the subscriptions to the American Red Cross 
Society had swollen to $400,000, and on the sixth they reached the 
total of half a million, all of which was cabled without delay for dis- 
tribution by Count Taverna and the Society which he represented. 

Subscriptions continued to come in during the following days, 
and the beneficent w^ork of the Society continued as long as any evi- 
dence of suffering remained. In aid of its labors, the United States 
Government had prepared and sent to Italy the materials for about 
3,000 small houses for the shelter of earthquake sufferers, all red 
tape being swept aside, so that the vessels containing this material 
might be sent without delay. 

The first vessel to be loaded was the Eva, which sailed about 
January 22, and had capacity for the materials for about 500 houses. 
With the lumber were sent nails, putty and glass, so that the houses 
could be put together with expedition. The remainder was to 
follow within a few weeks, the whole being sufficient to shelter a 
small city of fugitives who had been living in tents, where they had 
any shelter at all. ■■ 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Summing Up After the Great Catastrophe. 

THE tale of the great earthquake as recited in the foregoing 
page is necessarily brief. It is but a bird's-eye view of one 
of the most destructive, if, indeed, it is not the most terrible, 
calamity that nature has visited upon mankind since the days of 
the flood. The actual loss of life will never be known. The most 
conservative estimates of the destruction wrought instantly and 
that which followed immediately after nature's throes of forty 
seconds, in the doomed cities of Reggio and Messina, and the 
country adjoining them both in Italy and Sicily, stagger the human 
mind to comprehend. It is a catastrophe before which civilization 
stands aghast. 

It is said that Italy in this disaster lost more of her children than 
Russia lost in battle in the whole of her war with Japan— the most 
deadly combat in modern history. San Francisco's loss of 
life, in 1906, when earthquake and fire destroyed that splendid 
metropolis of the West, was insignificant in comparison with this 
great Italian earthquake which devastated the garden spot of the 
Mediterrean country during the closing days of 1908. The destruc- 
tion of ancient Pompeii was hardly one hundredth part as great in 
the sacrifice of human life as was this modern cataclysm which fills 
the world with sorrow. It is a picture of tragic pathos before which 
civilization stands in tearful, and yet in fascinated awe. 

As the tidings of the great catastrophe came in, many items of 

(130) 



suMMf.yi7 err . i fter thr c. \ r. [str( ^phe i 3 1 

interest became known, and certain variations in tlic early tidings 
were made. At first, for instance, it was reported that radical 
changes had been made in the depth of the Strait, the harbor channel 
growing deeper in some places and shallower in others, and that at a 
point in the Straits where there had been 1500 feet of depth, shallow 
water prevailed. It was also reported that the shore line had greatly 
changed. In reverse of this opinion it was later reported that the 
sea front showed little if any change, and that the geological effects 
of the convulsion were very slight,. 

SAVING THE TREASURE. 

Mr. Henry R, Chamberlain tells the following story of the 
saving of the i)ank treasures : 

*'I happened to be present about noon to-day at the rescue of 
the great treasure in the vaults of the Bank of Italy in the Via 
Garibaldi, and the work had a startling climax. The building was 
the strongest in Messina, and it had been specially designed to resist 
earthquake shocks. Against the protests of the engineers, the 
authorities had insisted upon a deep foundation of concrete. Above 
this were several layers of alternate iron and concrete, upon which 
rested the strongroom. 

'Tn this were stored the bulk of all the savings-bank deposits 
of Sicily, amounting to more than $6,ooo,(X)0 in gold and cash 
and securities represnting about $i5,ocx),C)00 more. The superstruc- 
ture had been badly damaged, but the strongroom was intact. A 
group of escaped prisoners tried to loot the place on the day of the 
earthquake, and several were shot by the pohce and soldiers. 

"Nothing had been touched when the strongroom was opened 
yesterday for the first time, after several days' work in removing 
the accumulated debris. The specie was safely removed under 



132 SUMMING UP AFTER THE CATASTROPHE 

guard and taken aboard a battleship. To-day they got out the safe 
containing the bulk of the securities,. A large force of men, guarded 
by a double line of 200 soldiers, slowly hoisted the big steel box to 
the surface. Just after noon they had succeeded with tackle and 
ropes in dragging it through the entrance into the street. 

"As I watched the operation there came suddenly the noise of 
a terrific explosion as if a 100-ton gun had been fired close at hand. 
The earth rocked and vibrated, and a moment later the walls of the 
building, which had withstood the shock of a week ago, fell inward 
with a great crash and up rose a suffocating cloud of dust. The 
200 soldiers dropped their guns and fled in terror. 

"The safe with its millions remained deserted for a few mo- 
ments until the savage execrations of two or three officers brought 
back the shamefaced troops. Had the shock come ten minutes 
earlier half a hundred workmen would have been buried in the 
ruins and there would have been another small tragedy to record." 

It need hardly be said in conclusion that the treasure was safely 
recovered and removed from the stricken cit}^ The funds in another 
of the banks, amounting to several millions, had already been re- 
moved by Russian sailors and taken to Naples, and much other 
wealth was recovered. All the treasure found was taken aboard 
the warships. One pocketbook was picked up containing $14,000, 
and much clothing was found at Messina and elsewhere with bank- 
notes sewed in it. 

Mr. Chamberlain further states: 'T have paid little attention 
to the subject of the pecuniary loss by this disaster. It may amount 
to $50,000,000 — perhaps five times that sum would be nearer the 
truth. I have not even attempted to count the cities and villages 
which have been destroyed in this large area. All are architectur- 



SUMMIXii t'l' .1 /■"/■/'JA' /•///:,■ c;. I 7". XSTROl'UE 133 

ally ruined, and thcv included a j)opulation of more than 3,000,000 
souls." 

There has been much interest in the effect of the Sicilian earth- 
quake and the ?\Iessina conflagration upon the foreign insurance 
companies operating in that section. 

All the European companies have strong carthcjuake clauses 
in their policies, exempting them from liability for losses caused 
directly or indirectly by earthquake^. 

In spite of this fact the English and German companies have 
been held, both at San Francisco and Kingston, Jamaica, for earth- 
quake losses, and it is probable similar attempts will be made by 
the Sicilian policyholders. 

The principal Italian stock companies are the Compagnia de 
Milano and the Fondiaria, of Florence, while the leading mutual is 
the Reale Mutau, of Turin. The Austrian companies, which have 
closer relations with Itah;, operate generally in that country, the 
leaders being the Assicurazioni Generali and Ruinione Adriatica 
di Sicurta, both of Trieste. 

The most -serious eft"ects upon foreign insurance companies 
are feared among the life and casualty companies, as the deaths of 
from 150,000 to 200,000 would naturally mean many heavy claims. 
While most of these w^ere peasants, hundreds of wealthy merchants 
in Messina and other large cities were killed, and it is also believed 
scores of tourists lost their lives, most of whom would carry large 
insurances. 

MR. CHAMBERLAIN ON ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. 

*Tt is an ineradicable custom of the Italian race to build its 
habitations, even in the smallest villages, crowded and huddled to- 
gether, as if space was so valuable that light and air must be sacri- 



134 SUMMING UP AFTER THE CATASTROPHE 

ficed to it. So-called streets are narrow lanes, giving passage to 
single vehicles, and without provision for pedestrians. 

"This was not true of Messina, yet even there the streets aver- 
aged less than forty feet in width; the buildings, including private 
dwellings, were in solid blocks, with never any space between. 
Squares and open spaces were rare. Such a construction in an 
earthquake country is nothing less than a death-trap. To this more 
than to the violence of the earth's convulsion is due the phenomenal 
proportion of the casualties. 

"San Francisco thought she suffered from an earthquake of the 
first magnitude. It was child's play, compared with this cataclysm. 
Messina was shaken as a terrier shakes a rat, until she dropped, 
bleeding and lifeless, into her own dust. Some say that it was an 
incredibly violent and swift yanking from side to side, followed by 
equally rapid upheavals and depressions. Others reverse the pro- 
cess. Some speak of the nauseating effect of the up-and-down 
motion, but the peril and struggle to escape were too compelling to 
give way to mere dizziness." 

One of the most remarkable things about the Messina earth- 
quake was the length of time that persons lived entombed in the 
ruins. Had the propositions to burn the place or to cover it with 
quicklime for the destruction of the decomposing bodies been carried 
out, a number of persons would have been destroyed w4io were finally 
rescued, long after all thought of any one surviving under the wreck 
had been abandoned. More than once the search was given up as 
hopeless, to be renewed again when chance led to another rescue. 
Here is one example in which a dream led to a rescue. 

A Sicilian soldier who had escaped from the collapse, dreamed 
that his fiancee was still alive in the ruins of her home. So vivid 
was his vision that he obtained permission from his commanding 



SUMMING UP AFl'liK TlfK CWrASTNOPHK 135 

officer to g"o with a companion and search. He called her many 
times and got no response. Then they selected what seemed a 
favorable spot and began digging. They worked on indefatigably, 
frequentl}' stopping to shout into the rnins. After about three 
hours they thought they heard a faint reply. 

Frantically they delved into the vast heap, and shortly before 
noon the dream was reaHzed. The girl lived, just lived, and 
they dragged her out. Help was summoned, the stretcher bearers 
came. They gave the poor creature brandy and milk and she re- 
vived a little. The transports of her rescuer may be imagined as 
he walked by her side holding her hand as they carried her to the 
shore and finally gave her in charge of the nurse of a hospital ship. 
This humble dreamer of dreams never heard of telepathy. He be- 
lieves he had a vision from heaven, and who shall deny it? 

Even on the nineteenth day after the earthquake a survivor was 
saved from a living tomb. This was an aged and decrepit woman, 
unconscious, yet still breathing. But most of those found late were 
children, who survived the shock better than their elders. A five- 
year-old boy was found alive and well in the ruins of Reggio two 
weeks after the disaster. Two girls and a boy lay for eighteen days 
under a pile of ruins. They had a supply of oil, wine, onions and 
water that kept them from starvation, and dug themselves so far out 
that their cries were heard by some passing soldiers. A man who 
had been caught across the waist by the fall of his house and had 
watched his wife and children die without being able to help them, 
was rescued on the fourteenth day. 

THE FUTURE OF MESSINA. 

What should be the fate of Messina was a question that excited 
much attention. Should it be left a ruin and its perilous locality 



136 SUMMING UP AFTER .THE CATASTROPHE ' 

deserted, or should it rise again from its wrecked condition? Signor 
Orlando, Italian Minister of Justice, insisted that it should be rebuilt. 

"You cannot blot out," he said, "twenty centuries of history. 
The town will be rebuilt as soon as possible. It will be impossible 
to leave deserted the spot where a city of 150,000 inhabitants 
flourished, even if 100,000 of the inhabitants perished. The other 
50,000 will refuse to abandon their native city forever. 

"Loans without interest, spread over a great number of years, 
will be made to landowners and a judicial commission be at once 
created whose duties will be to see that the rights of property are 
respected. I should consider Messina as an existing town even if 
only three houses remained. I am full of hope you will see Messina 
rebuilt within two years in accordance with modern ideas and follow- 
ing the example Japan has adopted in districts subject to earth- 
quakes. There will arise, I am sure, another Messina, with at least 
fifty thousand inhabitants." 

The final decision seemed to be , however, that the ruin-covered 
site should be abandoned and a new town grow up on a new and 
unencumbered site, a mile distant from the old, thus escaping the 
great cost and toil of removing the vast heap of ruins. Many of 
the survivors, however, refused to leave the sites of their homes on 
any conditions, and as an example of the vitality of the place it may 
be stated that, in three weeks after the earthquake, lights and water 
had been restored in Messina, and the shipping of oranges and 
lemons had been resumed. 




MADE INSANE BY TERROR. 
Terrifying experience, fearful shock and mortal peril rob men's minds of reason. This 
calamity was added to the miseries of many inhabitants of the ill-fated Italian cities. 




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BOOK II. 

History and Causes of Earthquakes, 

Volcanoes and other Seismic 

Phenomena. 



(137) 



NOTABLE EARTHQUAKES OF WORLD'S HISTORY 



A. D. 

157 — Pontus and Macedonia, Asia, 150 
cities and thousands of lives de- 
stroyed. 

526. — Antioch, earthquake, 250,000 esti- 
mated killed. 

742 — Syria, Palestine and Asia, 500 towns 
destroyed, loss of life incalculable. 

936 — Constantinople overturned, all 

1137 — Catania, Sicily, destroyed, 15,000 

killed. 
1268— Cilicia, Asia Minor, 60,000 killed. 
1456— December 5, Naples, 40,000 killed. 
1531— February 26, Lisbon, 30,000 killed. 
1628— July 30, Naples, 70,000 killed. 
1667— Schamaki, 80,000 killed. 
1692— June 7, Port Royal, Jamaica, 3000 

killed. 
1693— September, Sicily, 100,000 killed. 
1703— February 2, Tokio, Japan, 200,000 

killed. 
1708— November 3, Abuzzi, Italy, 5000 

killed. 
1716— Algeria, 20,000 killed. 
1726— September 1, Palermo, Italy, 6000 

killed. 
1731— November 30, Pekin, China, 100,000 

killed. 
1746— October 28, Lin-.a and Callao, Peru 

18,000 killed. 
1754— Cairo, Egypt, 40,000 killed. 
1755— November 1, Lisbon, 50,000 killed. 
1759— October 20, Syria, 20,000 killed. 
1773 — June 7, Santiago, Guatemala, com- 
pletely engulfed. 
1783— February 5, Messina, 60,000 killed. 
1797 — February 4, Santa Fe to Panama, 

40,000 killed. 



1812 — March 26, Caracas Venezuela, 12.000 
killed. 

1822 — August 10, Aleppo, Spain, 20,000 
killed. 

1851— August 14, Mem, Italy, 14,000 killed. 

1852 — September 16, Manila, Philippines, 
partially destroyed. 

1855 — Tokio nearly destroyed. 

1857 — December 16, Calabria, Italy, iO.OOO 
killed. 

1859— March 22, Quito, Ecuador, £000 killed. 

1860— March 20, Mendoza, S. A., 700O 
killed. 

1863— July 2, Manila, 1000 killed. 

1863 — August 15, Peru and Ecuador, 25,- 
000 killed. 

1875 — May 15, Colombia, South America, 
14,000 killed. 

1881— April 3, Scio, Italy, 4000 killed. 

1883— October 16, Anatolio, Asia, and 
other towns destroyed. 

1885— July 8, Cashmere 70,000 homes de- 
molished. 

1886— August 31. Charleston, S. C, S8 
killed. 

1887 — February 24, coast from Corsica to 
Lyons and Geneva, Switzerland, 
Italy and France : more than 2000 
killed. 

1887— May 5, Hawaii, 167 killed. 

1888— March, Yun Nan, China, 4000 killed. 

1891 — Multitudes killed in Japan. 

1902— Martinique, 32,600 killed. 

1905— Southern Italy, 550 killed. 

1908 — San Francisco earthquake, esti- 
mated 1,500 killed. 

1907 — Kingston. 800 killed. 

1908 — Earthquake and tidal wave in Italy. 



(138) 



CHAPTER XV. 

Famous Earthquakes of Ancient and 
Medieval Times. 

THE surface of the earth is rarely quite still. Quivers and 
slight tremors, usually imperceptible to us and discernible 
only in the delicately adjusted seismic instruments, are of very 
frequent occurrence, but only in comparatively rare cases do they 
become strong enough to make their force evident to our senses. 
It is only in certain limited regions, usually of volcanic character, 
that an earthquake of sufficient violence to be dangerous is apt 
to occur, and in some such regions the occurrence of a quake of this 
kind is sufficiently frequent to keep the inhabitants in a state of 
nervous uncertainty as to the security of their lives and homes 
One such locality, dismally famous for its many disasters of this 
kind, is that surrounding Mount Etna, Vesuvius and Stromboli; 
while various others exist in the more volcanic regions of the globe. 
The earthquakes on record are very numerous, and these are 
largely those that have occurred during the Christian Era, those of 
older date being far from fully recorded. Mallet's catalogue covers a 
list of between 6,000 and 7,000 instances, ranging from 1606 B. C. 
to 1850 A. D. Several of these are taken from Biblical history, and 
it is a problematical issue as to what was their actual character. 
The oldest of these was the shaking of the earth on the occasion of 
the delivery of the tablets of the law at Mount Sinai, ascribed to 

(139) 



I40 EARTHQUAKES OE ANCIENT TIMES 

the questionable date of 1606 B. C. A second case was that Arabic 
convulsion between 1604 and 1586 B. C, when Korah, Dathan, and 
Abiram were swallowed up, and a third suggested as an expla- 
nation of the fall of the walls of Jericho, at a date fixed b)^ him 
at 1566 B.C. 

Another Biblical account, considered by Boscowitz as not only 
an earthquake, but one of the oldest and most remarkable on record, 
was that of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as described 
in the Pentateuch. According to Boscowitz it was accompanied by 
a volcanic eruption, upheaved a district of several hundred square 
leagues, and caused the subsidence of a tract of land not less exten- 
sive, the whole water system and the levels of the soil being altered 
by the destructive outbreak. 

The south of Palestine, at the date of this catastrophe, contained 
the splendid valley of Siddim, dotted with forests and flourishing 
cities, including Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zoar, and Zeboiim, the 
sovereigns of which had, just previous to the disaster, joined their 
forces against the army of the invading king of the Elamites. 
They had recently fought and lost the decisive battle of the campaign 
when the dread subterranean forces assailed their cities, hurling 
them in ruins to the ground and spreading desolation in the flourish- 
ing valley in which they stood. 

THE BIBLICAL RECORD. 

The Biblical record of this disastrous event fixes the date of the 
catastrophe at sunrise, and gives us reason to understand that the 
ground opened in a yawning chasm, from which red-hot stones and 
burning cinders were hurled and fell like a storm of fire upon the 
land. Here are the words in which the story is told in Genesis: 

"The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone 



EARTHQUAKES OE AN CI EXT TIMES 141 

and fire from the Lord out of heaven ; and he overthrew those cities, 
and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which 
grew upon the ground. And Abraham got up early in the morning 
to the place where he stood before the Lord ; and he looked toward 
Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and 
behold, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a 
furnace/' 

This is such a description of the catastrophe as might be ex- 
pected from wTiters who were unfamiliar with -such dread occur- 
rences and were apt to attribute unusual events to supernatural 
causes. The account clearly indicates the nature of the cataclysm, 
even if one includes the espisode of Lot's wife being turned into a 
pillar of salt ; for this substance frequently occurs in large quantities 
among volcanic products. In the case in question the ashes hurled 
forth from the volcanic depths of the earth might have been saturated 
with salt, for that district at the present day is covered with it, one 
walking there upon a thick stratimi of friable salt which crunches 
beneath the feet, and extends as far as the eye can reach. If Lot's 
wife halted in the flight to look back upon the thrilling scene, she 
might well have been overtaken by the shower of hot, saline ashes. 
In this case her body would have presented the appearance of a pillar 
of salt, when this substance had become crystallized upon her after 
the eruption. 

EVIDENCE OF THE DISASTER. 

Our knowledge of this disaster is not confined to the Scriptural 
account, a record of the great catastrophe being preserved still in 
the traditions and legends of Syria and the writings of ancient 
historians like Tacitus and Strabo, in which we are told that Lake 

xAsphaltitc was formed during the terrific sliock and opulent cities 



142 EARTHQUAKES OF ANCIENT TIMES 

were swallowed up in the abyss or destroyed by fire belched forth 
from the earth. In the eyes of a religious people, and one unfamilar 
with such occurrences, it is natural that such an event would be 
regarded as a visitation from the heavenly powers, a punishment 
for crime and wickedness ; but all we know of it from other sources 
indicates that it was the result of one of the ordinary convulsions of 
nature. 

Of the valleys watered by the Jordan, that of Siddim was the 
largest and most populous. On the day of the great disaster there 
is reason to believe that all the southern part of this valley, with 
its woods, its fields, its towns and cities, its broad river, was up- 
heaved. On the northern side the plain seems to have sunk, a vast 
cavern being formed for a distance of a hundred leagues. The 
waters of the Jordan, suddenly arrested in their flow by the lifting 
of the soil in their lower channel, were probabl)^ at first driven back 
in an impetuous wave, and then poured forward again as impetu- 
ously, to fall into the great abyss opened in their channel. 

When, after the catastrophe, men came tremblingly to gaze upon 
its eflfects, they found the aspect of the country strangely altered. 
The valley of Siddim had vanished, a vast sheet of water covering 
its former location, into this the Jordan flowed, but beyond the great 
lake this stream, which had of old fertilized the country as far as 
the Red Sea, had ceased to exist. Lava, ashes and salt covered a 
country once the home of a busy population, the seat of cultivated 
fields and active communities. 

As the country appeared then, so it appears now. We see there 
only an expanse of calcined rocks, masses of black lava, blocks of 
rock salt, rough ravines, sulphurous springs, bituminous marshes, 
and the vast Lake Asphaltite, now fitly known as the Dead Sea. 

This Sea, the depth of which remains unknown, exists as the 



FARTl/(J['.\KRS OF AXCIEXT TIMES 143 

fittincv rc-ult of such a calaslrophc. LyinjJ" about 6()0 feet below 
the level of the ocean, in the vast depression caused by the earth- 
quake, its waters extend over an area of a hundred square leagues to 
the foot of the salt mountains and basaltic rocks which encircle it. 
One sees here no trace of vegetable or animal life. Not a sound is 
heard upon its shores, deeply impregnated with salt and bitumen. 
Tlie ])irds avoid even to fly o^^er its dread surface, from which un- 
wholesome effluvia arise; while in its waters, bitter, salt, and oily, 
no life can exist. No wind can stir the surface of this heavy and 
silent sea, and nothing moves therein, except the thick load of 
asphalt which at times rises from its bottom and floats to its desolate 
strand. , 

The upper Jordan remains, as in early times, the life-giving 
artery of Palestine; but its lower waters, which formerly found their 
way to the distant Gulf of Arabia, are now entombed in this sombre 
abyss, the most desolate body of water upon the face of the earth. 

ANCIENT EARTHQUAKES IN CHINA AND JAPAN. 

Evidences of disaster so great as the above are not to be found 
elsewhere in ancient history or tradition, or in the present aspect 
of any country, but records of earthquake convulsions are found in 
the annals of many countries of the past. The earliest from China 
dates back to 595 B. C, and from Japan to 286 B. Q., while the first 
recorded in India is of the much later date of 894 A. D. 

That of Japan must have been a prodigious cataclysm to give 
warrant to the tradition still extant concerning it. This, which took 
place in the island of Nippon, in the vicinity of the site of modern 
Tokyo, must have been volcanic in character, for flames are said to 
have issued from the earth and a tract of country sixty miles in 
circumference to have been raised to an enormous height. This was 



144 EARTHQUAKES OF ANCIENT TIMES 

the volcano of Fusiyama, the holy mountain of Japan, which, as the 
legend relates, reared its lofty summit in a single night to its present 
altitude of 12,258 feet. More probably it had its beginning on that 
night, and has since grown, as volcanoes everywhere grow, from its 
own outpourings. 

At the same time, so the legend states, a depression to match 
this elevation was taking place elsewhere. At a great distance from 
the scene of upheaval an immense plain, shut in with lofty mountains, 
was violently shaken, and suddenl}^ sank downward, with the forests, 
towns and villages upon its surface. Into the great cavity thus 
formed the waters poured and a lake arose thirty-five miles in length 
and ten miles in width. Such is the origin of Lake Biva, as given 
in Japanese lore. But instead of bearing any resemblance to the 
Dead Sea, it is a splendid and limpid sheet, the blue waters and 
beautiful shores of which remind one of the Lake of Geneva. 

Though we have given the date of the earliest Chinese earth- 
quake record as 595 B. C, tradition goes back nearly two thousand 
years beyond that elate and tells us of a vast convulsion in the reign 
of the mythical Yao, whose accession is given at 2357 B. C. We 
are told that, at that remote period, violent earthquake shocks broke 
up the eastern shore of a mighty sea that occupied the vast area of 
the desert of Mongolia, its waters pouring in an overwhelming 
flood upon Northern China and drowning the whole population. 

EARTHQUAKE TRADITIONS OF GREECE. 

It is singular that in Greece exists the tradition of a mighty 
catastrophe which occurred at about the same time as that credited 
to China, its date being given as about 2400 B. C. This earthquake 
is said to have spread over a vast tract of country, including Greece, 

Asia IMinor, Thrace, and the beds of the Black and Mediterranean 



KARTJIiJUAKKS OF ANCIEXT TIMES 145 

Seas. At that period an isthmus, according to the tradition, sepa- 
rated the Black Sea from the Sea of Marmora. The shock broke 
through this isthmus and formed the Strait of Cyanes, now known 
as the Bosphorus. The two seas poured in fury into the chasm 
and covered the whole of Greece with their waters, such a deluge 
being produced that all the inhabitants of Greece and Asia Minor 
were drowned, with the exception of a few shepherds who dwelt upon 
the tops of the highest mountains. The recollection of some such 
catastrophe lived long in the islands of Rhodes and Samothrace and 
among the Phrygians and Egyptians, though the latter suffered 
little. 

In another tradition of the remote past, that of the famed island 
of Atlantis, lying in the Atlantic ocean far beyond the pillars of 
Hercules, we are told that the men of Atlantis attacked Greece, 
Egypt and other nations and that during the desperate war which 
followed there came a terrible earthquake, which in one night 
drowned all the army of the Greeks and at the same time engulfed 
the great isle of Atlantis, which sank into the ocean which has 
inherited its name. This legend, told by Egyptian priests of Solon 
and given to us by Plato, may have had to do w^ith some remote 
convulsion to which tradition gave this very problematical form. 

Coming to a later, but still a very remote date, that of the nine- 
teenth century before Christ, we are told that the whole population 
of Attica was drowned by the inundation that followed an earth- 
quake. The Greeks called this the deluge of Ogyges, a king of that 
name then reigning in Attica, At the same period, or as some say 
three centuries later, there was an earthquake in Thessaly which 
was followed by the overflow of rivers and an inroad of the sea. 
This catastrophe drowned all the people except Deucalion, the king, 

10 



146 EARTHQUAKES OF ANCIENT TIMES 

and his wife Pyrrha, who escaped upon a vessel which, at the end of 
a week, grounded upon Mount Parnassus. After their escape the 
king and queen repeopled the coiuitr}^ by throwing stones behind 
them as they journeyed down the mountain, these being transferred 
into men and women. This story bears an interesting resemblance 
to that of the Noachian deluge. 

Coming down from legendary to historical times, we meet in 
Greece with the record of a violent earthquake in a night of the year 
373 B. C, which extended throughout the whole country, its prin- 
cipal injury being in the Peloponnesus, where, when day dawned, 
two towns, Bura and Helice, were found to have disappeared. 
Helice, though several miles inland from the Gulf of Corinth, was 
engulfed in its waters, and long afterward, when the waters of the 
gulf were calm, the appearance of a ntysterious city might be dis- 
covered in their depths. This was the once superb Helice, its 
houses in ruins, its temples and marble columns in fragments. 

Elsewhere we have described the remarkable volcanic eruption 
of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A. D., by which two cities, Herculaneum 
and Pompeii, were buried in volcanic ash. While this was the first 
recorded eruption of the volcano, the region surrounding it has been 
visited by earthquakes before, one of these, which occurred 63 A. D., 
having done great damage to these cities and killed many of their 
inhabitants. It was a little heeded warning of their final fate six- 
teen years later. 

ANTIOCH AND ITS DISASTERS. 

In the world's record of earthquakes there is none more destruc- 
tive than that which wrecked the famous city of Antioch in 526 
A. D. This great city, built in 300 B. C by Sciences, one of the 
successors to the divided empire of Alexander the Great, and which 
ranked after Rome and Alexandria as t1ic third greatest city of the 



EARTHOUAKKS OF ANCIENT TIMES 147 

age, was specially subject to earthquake disasters, which visited it 
on many occasions. 

The first one on record was of the date of 148 B. C, but mythi- 
cal tradition seems to point back to earlier ones. At least this may 
1-!C the correct interpretation of the myths of the giants Typhon 
and Pagres, who were struck there by the thunderbolts of Jupiter. 
In the early centuries of the Christian era, earthquakes were fre- 
quent and severe in that locality. One of these, that of 37 A. D., 
caused so much damage that the emperor Caligula sent two Roman 
Senators to Antioch to look into the state of the city. In the reign 
of Claudius another followed- To act as a preventive to any more, 
the magician Dabbonius placed a 1)ust on a purple column in the 
centre of the city, with an inscription appealing to the superstitious 
among the citizens. But his effort to stay the earthquake proved 
vain, for the next shock overthrew the column and bust. 

The most severe of these early earthquakes was that of 115 
A. D. At the time of its occurrence the city was full of Roman 
soldiers, whom the emperor Trajan was then leading in a campaign 
against the Parthians. Great destruction to buildings and loss of 
life succeeded, the rivers changed their courses. Mount Casius shook 
violently, and the emperor, to escape danger from the falling build- 
ings, was forced to take refuge for several days in the circus. 

The greatest of the earthquakes that visited Antioch, and the 
most destructive to human life of any on record, was that of 526 
A. D. The city was entirely destroyed and the loss of life enormous, 
it being estimated at 250,000 persons. As on the last named 
occasion the presence of a Roman army added to the loss, so in this 
instance the presence in the city of an assembly of the Christian 
Church swelled greatly the sum of the dead. 

In naming the other visitations of Antioch, we must speak of 



148 EARTHQUAKES OF ANCIENT TIMES 

those of 341 and 457 A. D., the latter attended with considerable 
loss. In November, 528, two years only after its overthrow, the 
partly restored city was again severely shaken, 5,000 of its citizens 
falling victims. In 587 A. D., came another shock, followed on the 
last day of October, 588, by a frightful one, attended by a terrible 
loss of life. All those disasters, together with others due to war and 
conflagration, proved fatal to the eminence of the city, which after- 
ward passed under the hands of various masters, the Persians, the 
Saracens, the Crusaders, the Turks, and finally in 1268, under that 
of the Sultan of Egypt, who wrecked it so thoroughly that it never 
revived. To-day it is a small town of a few thousand inhabitants 
dwelling in hovels of mud and straw. Yet it is still not free from its 
ancient enemy, who returned in 1822 to shock it into memory of its 
old-time calamities. 

Many other desolating earthquakes of early date might be 
named, as may well be imagined when we consider the number of 
severe ones that have occurred within a century. Of these only those 
of most destructiveness need be named. The Peninsula of Hindo- 
stan, while not especially subject to such convulsions, has been the 
seat of several severe ones, among which that of 893 A. D. almost 
rivals Antioch in the destruction of human life, the loss being esti- 
mated at 180,000. One which occurred in Persia in 11 39 is credited 
with 100,000 victims. Coming to a date nearer our own, we find 
Lisbon credited in 1531 with a loss of 30,000, a destruction. of life 
approaching that of its great disaster in 1755. In 1693 Sicily was 
fearfully visited, its death roll being estimated at 93,000. Returning 
to the East, we find in China and Japan examples in late centuries 
of enormous sacrifices to the earthquake demon, the 1703 shock 
in Yeddo, Japan, slaughtering 190,000 of its people, and that of 1731 
claiming 95,000 victims in Peking, China. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The Great Lisbon and Calabrian Earthquakes. 

NUMEROUS thrilling- examples of the destructive work of the 
earthquake at various periods are on record. Of these we 
shall confine ourselves to a few striking examples of its 
destructive action. In the record of great earthquakes, one of the 
most famous is that which in 1755 visited the city of Lisbon, the 
capital of Portugal, and left that populous place in ruin and dire 
distress. It may be well to recall the details of this dire event to 
the memories of our readers. 

THE GREAT LISBON EARTHQUAKE 

On the night of the 31st of October, 1755, the citizens of the 
fair city of Lisbon lay down to sleep, in merciful ignorance of what 
was awaiting them on the morrow. The morning of the ist of 
November dawned, and gave no sign of approaching calamity. 
The sun rose in its brightness, the warmth was genial, the breezes 
gentle, the sky serene. It was All Saints' Day — a high festival of 
the Church of Rome. The sacred edifices were thronged with 
eager crowds, and the ceremonies were in full progress, when the 
assembled throngs were suddenly startled from their devotions. 
From the ground beneath came fearful sounds that drowned the 
peal of the organ and the voices of the choirs. These under- 
ground thunders having rolled away, an awful silence ensued. The 
panic-stricken multitudes were paralyzed with terror. Immedi- 
ately after the ground began to heave with a long and gentle sweR 

rT4Q) 



150 



GREAT LISBON AND CALABRIAN EARTHQUAKES 



producing giddiness and faintness among the people. The tall 
piles swayed to and fro, like willows In the wind. Shrieks of hor- 
ror rose from the terrified assembly. Again the earth heaved, 
and this time with a longer and higher wave. Down came the 
ponderous arches, the stately columns, the massive walls, the lofty 
spires, tumbling upon the heads of priests and people. The graven 
images, the deified wafers, and they who had knelt in adoration 




GREAT EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON, NOV. i, 1753. 

before them — the worshipped and the worshippers alike — were in 
a moment buried under one undistinguishable mass of horrible 
ruins. Only a few, who were near the doors, escaped to tell the 
tale. 

It fared no better with those who had remained in their dwel- 
lings. The terrible earth-wave overthrew the larger number of the 
private houses in the city, burying their inhabitants under the 



GREAT LISBON AND CALABRJAN RARTTIQUAKRS 151 

crumbling walls. Those who were in the streets more generally 
escaped, though some there, too, were killed by falling walls. 

The sudden overthrow of so many buildings raised vast 
volumes of fine dust, which filled the atmosphere and obscured the 
sun, producing a dense gloom. The air was full of doleful sounds 
— the groans of agony from the wounded and the dying, screams 
of despair from the horrified survivors, wails of lamentation from 
the suddenly bereaved, dismal bowlings of dogs, and terrified cries 
of other animals. 

In two or three minutes the clouds of dust fell to the ground, 
and disclosed the scene of desolation which a few seconds had 
wrought. The ruin, though general, was not universal. A con- 
siderable number of houses were left standing — -fortunately tenant- 
less — for a third great earth-wave traversed the city, and most of 
the buildings which had withstood the previous shocks, already 
severely shaken, were entirely overthrown. 

WATER ADDS TO THE DESTRUCTION 

The last disaster filled the surviving citizens with the impulse 
of flight. The more fortunate of them ran in the direction of the 
open country, and succeeded in saving their lives ; but a great multi- 
tude rushed down to the harbor, thinking to escape by sea. Here, 
however, they were met by a new and unexpected peril. The 
tide, after first retreating for a little, came rolling in with an immense 
wave, about fifty feet in height, carrying with it ships, barges and 
boats, and dashing them in dire confusion upon the crowded shore. 
Overwhelmed by this huge wave, great numbers were, on its 
retreat, swept into the seething waters and drowned, A vast 
throng took refuge on a fine new marble quay, but recently com- 
pleted, which had cost much labor and expense. This the sea-wave 



152 GREAT LISBON AND CALABRIAN RARTHQC/AKES 

had spared, sweeping harmless by. But, alas ! it was only for a 
moment The vast structure itself, with the whole of its living bur- 
den, sank instantaneously into an awful chasm which opened under- 
neath. The mole and all who were on it, the boats and barges 
m<x>red to its sides, all of them filled with people, were in a moment 
mguiied. Not a sino'le corpse, not a shred of raiment, not a plank 
noi 3 splinter boated to the surface, and a hundred fathoms of 
water covered the spot To the first great sea-wave several others 
succeeded; and the bay continued for a long time in a state of 
tumultuous agitation 

About two hours after the first overthrow of the buildings, a 
new element of destruction came into play. The fires in the 
ruined houses kindled the timbers, and a mighty conflagration, 
virged by a violent wind, soon raged among the ruins, consuming 
everything combustible, and completing the wreck of the city. 
This fire, which lasted four days, was not altogether a misfortune. 
It consumed the thousands of corpses which would otherwise have 
tainted the air adding pestilence to the other misfortunes of the 
survivors Yet they were threatened with an enemy not less 
appalling, for famine stared them in the face. Almost everything 
eatable within the precincts of the city had been consumed. A set 
of wretches, morever who had escaped from the ruins of the 
prisons, prowled among the rubbish of the houses in search of 
plunder, so that whatever remained in the shape of provisions fell 
into their hands and was speedily devoured. They also broke into 
the houses that remained standing, and rifled them of their con- 
tents. It is said that many of those who had been only injured 
by the ruins, and might have escaped by being extricated, were 
ruthlessly murdered by those merciless villains. 



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GREAT LISBON AND CALABRIAN EARTHQUAKES i53 

The total loss of life by this terrible catastrophe is estimated 
at 60,000 persons, of whom about 40,000 perished at once, and the 
remainder died afterwards of the injuries and privations they sus- 
tained. Twelve hundred were buried in the ruins of the general 
hospital, eight hundred in those of the civil prison, and several 
thousands in those of the convents. The loss of property amounted 
to many millions sterling. 

WIDE-SPREAD DESTRUCTION 

Although the earth-wave traversed the whole city, the shock 
was felt more severely in some quarters than in others. All the 
older part of the town, called the Moorish quarter, was entirely 
overthrown ; and of the newer part, about seventy of the principal 
streets were ruined. Some buildino;s that withstood the shocks 
were destroyed by fire. The cathedral, eighteen parish churches, 
almost all the convents, the halls of the inquisition, the royal resi- 
dence, and several other fine palaces of the nobility and mansions 
of the wealthy, the custom-houses, the warehouses filled with mer- 
chandise, the public granaries filled with corn, and large timber yards, 
with their stores of lumber, were either overthrown or burned. 

The king and court were not in Lisbon at the time of this 
great disaster, but were living in the neighborhood at the castle of 
Belem, which escaped injury. The royal family, however, were so 
alarmed by the shocks, that they passed the following night in car- 
riages out of doors. None of the officers of state were with them 
at the time. On the following morning the king hastened to the 
ruined city, to see what could be done toward restoring order, aid- 
ing the wounded, and providing food for the hungry. 

The royal family and the members of the court exerted them- 
selves to the uttermost, the ladies devoting themselves to the prep- 
aration of lint and bandages, and to nursing the wounded the sick, 



i54 GREAT LISBON AND CALABRIAN EARTHQUAKES 

and the dying, of whom the numbers were overwhelming. Among 
the sufferers were men of quality and once opulent citizens, who 
had been reduced in a moment to absolute penury. The kitchens 
of the royal palace, which fortunately remained standing, were used 
for the purpose of preparing food for the starving multitudes. It 
is said that during the first two or three days a pound of bread was 
worth an ounce of gold. One of the first measures of the govern- 
ment was to buy up all the corn that could be obtained in the 
neighborhood of Lisbon, and to sell It again at a moderate price 
to those who could afford to buy, distributing It gratis to those who 
had nothing to pay. 

For about a month afterward earthquake shocks continued, 
some of them severe. It was several months before any of the 
citizens could summon courage to begin rebuilding the city. But 
by degrees their confidence returned. The earth had relapsed into 
repose, and they set about the task of rebuilding with so much 
energy, that in ten years Lisbon again became one of the most 
beautiful capitals of Europe. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE 

The most distinguishing peculiarities of this earthquake were 
the swallowing up of the mole, and the vast extent of the earth's 
surface over which the shocks were felt. Several of the highest 
mountains in Portugal were violently shaken, and rent at their sum- 
mits ; huge masses falling from them into the neighboring valleys. 
These great fractures gave rise to Immense volumes of dust, which 
at a distance were mistaken for smoke by those who beheld them. 
Flames were also said to have been observed : but if there were 
any such, they were probably electrical flashes produced by the 
sudden rupture of the rocks. 



GREA2 LISBON AND CALABRIAN EARTHQUAKES 155 

The portion of the earth's surface convulsed by this earthquake 
is estimated by Humboldt to have been four times greater than the 
whole extent of Europe. The shocks were felt not only over the 
Spanish peninsula, but in Morocco and Algeria they were nearly as 
violent. At a place about twenty-four miles from the city of Mo- 
rocco, there is said to have occurred a catastrophe much resemb- 
ling what took place at the Lisbon mole. A great fissure opened in 
the earth, and an entire village, with all its inhabitants, upwards of 
8,000 in number, were precipitated into the gulf, which immediately 
closed over its prey. 

EARTHQUAKES IN CALABRIA 

Of the numerous other examples of destructive earthquakes 
which might be chosen from Old World annals, it will not be amiss 
to append a brief account of those which took place in Calabria, 
Italy, in 1783. These, while less wide-spread in their influence, 
were much longer in duration than the Lisbon cataclysm, since they 
continued, at intervals, from the 5th of February until- the end of 
the year. The shocks were felt all over Sicily and as far north as 
Naples, but the area of severe convulsion was comparatively lim- 
ited, not exceeding five hundred square miles. 

The centre of disturbance seems to have been under the town 
of Oppido in the farther Calabria, and it extended in every direc- 
tion from that spot to a distance of about twenty-two miles, with 
such violence as to overthrow every city, town and village lying 
within that circle. This ruin was accomplished by the first shock 
on the 5th of February. The second, of equal violence, on the 
28th of March, was less destructive, only because little 01* nothing 
had been left for it to overthrow. 

At Oppido the motion was in the nature of a vertical up- 
heaval of the ground, which was accompanied by the opening of 



156 GREAT LISBON AND CALABRlAN hARlhQVAKES 

numerous large chasms, into some of which many houses were in 
gulfed, the chasms closing over them again almost immediately 
The town itself was situated on the summit of a hill, flanked by 
five steep and difficult slopes ; it was so completely overthrown by 
the first shock that scarcely a fragment of wall was left standing 
The hill itself was not thrown down, but a fort which commanded 
the approach to the place was hurled into the gorge below. It was 
on the flats immediately surrounding the site of the town and on 
the rising grounds beyond them that the great fissures and chasms 
were opened. On the slope of one of the hills opposite the town 
there appeared a vast chasm, in which a large quantity of soil 
covered with vines and olive-trees was engulfed. This chasm re- 
mained open after the shock, and was somewhat in the form of an 
amphitheatre, 500 feet long and 200 feet in depth. 

MOST CALAMITOUS OF THE LANDSLIPS 

The most calamitous of the landslips occurred on the sea-coast 
of the Straits of Messina, near the celebrated rock of Scilla, where 
huge masses fell from the tall cliffs, overwhelming many villas and 
gardens. At Gian Greco a continuous line of precipitous rocks, 
nearly a mile in length, tumbled down. The aged Prince of Scilla, 
after the first great shock on the 5th of February, persuaded many of 
his vassals to quit the dangerous shore, and take refuge in the fish- 
ing boats — he himself showing the example. That same night, 
however, while many of the people were asleep in the boats, and 
others on a flat plain a little above the sea-level, another powerful 
shock threw down from the neighboring Mount Jaci a great mass, 
which fell with a dreadful crash, partly into the sea, and partly 
upon the plain beneath. Immediately the sea rose to a height of 
twenty feet above the level ground on which the people were 



GREAT LISBON AND CALABR/AN EARlHijC/AKuS 157 

stationed, and rolling over it, swept away the whole multitude. This 
immense wave then retired, but returned with still greater violence, 
bringing with it the bodies of the men and animals it had previ- 
ously swept away, dashing to pieces the whole of the boats, drown- 
ing all that were in them, and wafting the fragments far inland. 
The prince with 1,430 of his people perished by this disaster. 

It was on the north-eastern shore of Sicily, however, that the 
greatest am.ount of damage was done. The first severe shock, on 
the 5th of February, overthrew nearly the whole of the beautiful 
city of Messina, with great loss of life. The shore for a considera- 
ble distance along the coast was rent, and the ground along the 
port, which was before quite level, became afterwards inclined 
towards the sea, the depth of the water having, at the same time, 
increased in several parts, through the displacement of portions of 
the bottom. The quay also subsided about fourteen inches below 
the level of the sea, and the houses near it were much rent. But 
it was in the city itself that the most terrible desolation was wrought 
— a complication of disasters having followed the shock, more espe- 
cially a fierce conflagration, whose intensity was augmented by the 
large stores of oil kept in the place. 

IMMENSE DESTRUCTION 

According to official reports made soon after the events, the^ 
destruction caused by the earthquakes of the 5th of February and 
28th of March throughout the two Calabrias was immense. About 
320 towns and villages were entirely reduced to ruins, and about fifty 
others seriously damaged. The loss of life was appalling— 40,000 
having perished by the earthquakes, and 20,000 more having sub- 
sequently died from privation and exposure, or from epidemic dis- 
eases bred by the stagnant pools and the decaying carcases of men 



158 GREAT' LISBON AND CAL ADRIAN EARTHQUAKES 

and animals. The greater number were buried amid the ruins of 
the houses, while others perished in the fires that were kindled in 
most of the towns, particularly in Oppido, where the flames were 
fed by great magazines of oil. Not a few, especially among the 
peasantry dwelling in the country, were suddenly engulfed in 
fissures. Many who were only half buried in the ruins, and who 
might have been saved had there been help at hand, were left to 
die a lingering death from cold and hunger. Four Augustine 
monks at Terranuova perished thus miserably. Having taken 
refuge in a vaulted sacristy, they were entombed in it alive by the 
masses of rubbish, and lingered for four days, during which their 
cries for help could be heard, till death put an end to their sufferings. 
Of still more thrilling interest was the case of the Marchion- 
ess Spastara. Having fainted at the moment of the first great 
shock, she was lifted by her husband, who, bearing her in his arms, 
hurried with her to the harbor. Here, on recovering her senses, 
she observed that her infant boy had been left behind. Taking 
advantage of a moment when her husband was too much occupied 
to notice her, she darted off and, running back to the house, which 
was still standing, she snatched her babe from its cradle. Rushing 
with him in her arms towards the staircase, she found the stair had 
fallen — cutting off all further progress in that direction. She fled 
from room to room, pursued by the falling materials, and at length 
reached a balcony as her last refuge. Holding up her infant, she 
implored the few passers-by for help ; but they all, intent on secur- 
ing their own safety, turned a deaf ear to her cries. Meanwhile 
the mansion had caught fire, and before long the balcony, with the 
devoted lady still grasping her darling, was hurled into the devour- 
ing flames. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Earthquakes in the New World Prior to 1900. 

TtiE twin continents of America have rivalled llic record of 
the Old World in their experience of earthquakes since 
their discovery in 1492. The first of these made note of vv^as 
in Venezuela in 1530, but they have been numerous and often dis- 
astrous since. Among them was the great shock at Lima in 1740, 
by which iS,ooo were killed, and those at Guatemala in 1773, with 
33,000, and at Riobamba in 1797, with 41,000 victims. It will, how- 
ever, doubtless prove of more interest to our readers if we pass 
over these ruinous disasters and confine ourselves to the less des- 
tructive earthquakes which have taken place within our own country. 
The United States, large a section of North America as it 
occupies, is fortunate in being in a great measure destitute of vol- 
canic phenomena, while destructive earthquakes have been very 
rare in its history. This, it is true, does not apply to the United 
States as it is, but as it was. It has annexed the volcano and the 
earthquake with its new accessions of territory. Alaska has its 
volcanoes, the Philippines are subject to both forms of convulsion, 
and in Hawaii we possess the most spectacular volcano of the earth, 
while the earthquake is its common attendant. But in the older 
United States the volcano contents itself with an occasional pufif of 
smoke, and eruptive phenomena are confined to the minor form of 
the geyser. 



i6o EARTHQUAKES OF THE UNITED STATES 

We are by no means so free from the earthquake. Slight move- 
ments of the earth's surface are much more common than many of 
us imagine, and in the history of our land there have been a num- 
ber of earth shocks of considerable violence. Prior to that of San 
Francisco, the most destructive to life and property was that 
of Charleston in 1886, though the 181 2 convulsion in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley might have proved a much greater calamity but 
for the fact that civilized man had not then largely invaded its cen- 
tre of action. 

As regards the number of earth movements in this country, we 
are told that in New England alone 231 were recorded in two 
hundred and fifty years, while doubtless many slighter ones were 
left unrecorded. Taking the whole United States, there were 364 
recorded in the twelve years from 1872 to 1883, and in 1885 fifty- 
nine were recorded, more than two-thirds of them being on the 
Pacific slope. Most of these, however, were very slight, some of 
them barely perceptible. 

Confining ourselves to those of the past important in their 
effects, we shall first speak of the shocks which took place in New 
England in 1755, in the year and month of the great earthquake 
at Lisbon. On the i8th of November of that year, while the shocks 
at Lisbon still continued, New England was violently shaken, loud 
underground explosive noises accompanying the shocks. In the 
harbors along the Atlantic coast there was much agitation of the 
waters and many dead fish were thrown up on the shores. The 
shock, indeed, was felt far from the coast, by the crew of a ship 
more than two hundred miles out at sea from Cape Ann, Massa- 
chusetts. 

This event, however, was of minor importance, being much 
inferior to that of 18 12, in which year California and the Mississippi 
Valley alike were affected by violent movements of the earth s 



EARTHQUAKES OF THE UNITED STATES i6r 

crust. The California convulsions took place in the spring and 
summer of that year, extending from the beginning of May until 
September. Throughout May the southern portion of that region 
was violently agitated, the shocks being so frequent and severe 
that people abandoned their houses and slept on the open ground. 
The most destructive shocks came in September, when two Mission 
houses were destroyed and many of their inmates killed. At Santa 
Barbara a tidal wave invaded the coast and flowed some dis- 
tance into the interior. 

It may be said here that California has proved more subject to 
severe shocks than any other section of our country. In 1865 
sharp tremors shook the whole region about the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco, many buildings being thrown down. Hardly any of brick or 
stone escaped injury, though few lives were lost. In 1872 a dis- 
turbance was felt farther west, the whole range of the Sierra 
Nevada mountains being violently shaken and the earth tremblings 
extending into the State of Nevada. The centre of activity was 
along the crest of the range, and immense quantities of rock were 
thrown down from the mountain pinnacles. A tremendous fissure 
opened along the eastern base of the mountain range for forty 
miles, the land to the west of the opening rising and that to the 
east sinking several feet. One small settlement, that of Lone Pine, 
in Owen's Valley, on the east base of the mountains, was completely 
demolished, from twenty to thirty lives being lost. Luckily, the 
region affected had very few inhabitants, or the calamity might have 
been great. 

The earthquakes of 181 2 in the Mississippi Valley began in 

December, 181 1, and continued at intervals until 18 13. As a rule 

they were more distinguished by frequency than violence, though 

on several occasions they were severe and had marked effects. 
II 



162 EARTHQUAKES OF THE UNITED STATES 

They extended through the valleys of the Mississippi, Arkansas 
and Ohio, and their long continuance was remarkable in view of 
the territory affected being far from any volcanic region. 

The surface of the valley of the Mississippi was a good deal 
altered by these convulsions — several new lakes being formed, 
while others were drained. Several new islands were also raised 
in the river, and during one of the shocks the ground a little below 
New Madrid was for a short time lifted so high as to stop the 
current of the Mississippi, and cause it to flow backward. The 
ground on which this town is built, and the bank of the river for 
fifteen miles above it, subsided permanently about eight feet, and 
the cemetery of the town fell into the river. In the neighboring 
forest the trees were thrown into inclined positions in every direc- 
tion, and many of their trunks and branches were broken. It is 
affirmed that in some places the ground swelled into great waves, 
which burst at their summits and poured forth jets of water, along 
with sand and pieces of coal, which were tossed as high as the tops 
of trees. On the subsidence of these waves, there were left several 
hundreds of hollow depressions from ten to thirty yards in diame- 
ter, and about twenty feet in depth, which remained visible for 
many years afterward. Some of the shocks were vertical, and others 
horizontal, the latter being the most mischievous. These earth- 
quakes resulted in the general subsidence of a large tract of 
country, between seventy and eighty miles in length from north to 
south, and about thirty miles in breadth from east to west. Lakes 
now mark many of the localities affected by the earthquake move- 
ments. It is only to the fact that this country was then very thinly 
settled that a great loss of life was avoided. 

New Madrid, Missouri, was a central point of this earthquake, 
the shocks there being repeated with great frequency for several 



ttARTHQVAKES Ot THE UNITED STATES 163 

months. The disturbance of the earth, however, was not ccr.il'Cd 
to the U nited States, but affected nearly half of the western hemis- 
phere, ending in the upheaval of Sabrina in the A^oros, already 
described. The destriLCtion oi Caracas, Venezuela, with many 
thousands of its inhabitants, and :ne eruption of La Soufriere 
volcano of St. Vincent Island were incidents of this convulsion. 
Dr. J. W. Foster tells us that on tne night of the disaster at Caracas 
the earthquake grew intense at New Madrid, fissures being opened 
six hundred feet long by twenty broad, i'"jm which water and sand 
were flung to the height of forty feet. 

The most destructive of earthquakes in our former history was 
that which visited Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886, the injury 
caused by It being largely due to the fact that it passed through a 
populous city. As it occurred after many of the people had re 
tired, the confusion and terror due to it were greatly augmented, 
people fleeing in panic fear from the tumbling and cracking houses 
to seek refuge in the widest streets and open spaces. 

South Carolina had been affected by the wide-spread earth- 
quakes of 18 1 2. These in some cases altered the level of the land, 
as is related in Lyell's " Principles of Geology." But the effect 
then was much less than in 1886. Several slight tremors occurred 
in the early summer of that year, but did not excite much atten- 
tion. More distinct shocks were felt on August 27th and 28th, but 
the climax was deferred till the evening of August 31st. The 
atmosphere that afternoon had been unusually sultry and quiet, the 
breeze from the ocean, which generally accompanies the rising 
tide, was almost entirely absent, and the setting sun caused a little 
glow in the sky. 

"As the hour of 9.50 was reached," we are told, " there was 
suddenly heard a rushing, roaring sound, compared by some to a 



164 EARTHQUAKES OF THE UNITED STATES 

train of cars at no great distance, by others to a clatter produced 
by two or more omnibuses moving at a rapid rate over a paved 




RUINOUS EFFECT OF THE CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE. 

Street, by others again, to an escape of steam from a boiler. It 
was followed immediately by a thumping and beating of the earth 
beneath the houses, which rocked and swayed to and fro. Furniture 



Earthquakes of the united states 165 

was violently moved and dashed to the floor ; pictures were 
swunpf from the walls, and in some cases turned with their backs to 
the front, and every movable thing was thrown into extraordinary 
convulsions. The greatest intensity of the shock is considered to 
have been during the first half, and it was probably then, during 
the period of its greatest sway, that so many chimneys were broken 
off at the junction of the roof. The duration of this severe shock 
is thought to have been from thirty-five to forty seconds. The 
impression produced on many was that it could be subdivided into 
three distinct movements, while others were of the opinion that it 
was one continuous movement, or succession of waves, with the 
greatest intensity, as already stated, during the first half of its 
duration." 

Twenty-seven persons were killed outright, and more than that 
number died soon after of their hurts or from exposure ; many 
others were less seriously injured. Among the buildings, the havoc, 
though much less disastrous than has been recorded in some other 
earthquakes in either hemisphere, was very great. " There was 
not a building In the city which had escaped serious injury. 
The extent of the damage varied greatly, ranging from total demoli- 
tion down to the loss of chimney tops and the dislodgment of more 
or less plastering. The number of buildings which were com- 
pletely demolished and levelled to the ground was not great ; but 
there were several hundreds which lost a large portion of their 
walls: There were very many also which remained standing, but 
so badly shattered that public safety required that they should be 
pulled down altogether. There was not, so far as at present is 
known, a brick or stone building which was not more or less 
cracked, and in most of them the cracks were a permanent dis- 
figurement and a source of danger and inconvenience." In some 



i66 EARTHQUAKES OF THE UNITED STATES 

places the railway track was curiously distorted. " It was often dis» 
placed laterally, and sometimes alternately depressed and elevated. 
Occasionally several lateral flexures of double curvature and of 
great amount were exhibited„ Many hundred yards of track had 
been shoved bodily to the south eastward." 

The ground was fissured at some places in the city to a depth 
of many feet, and numerous *' craterlets " were formed, from which 
sand was ejected in considerable quantities. These are not un- 
common phenomena, and were due, no doubt, to the squirting of 
water out of saturated sandy layers not far below the surface ; these 
being squeezed between two less pervious beds in the passage of 
the earthquake wave. The ejected material in the Charleston 
earthquake was ordinary sand, such as might exist in many dis- 
tricts which had been quite undisturbed by any concussions of the 
earth. 

Captain Button made a careful study of the observations 
collected by himself and others concerning this earthquake, and 
came to the conclusion that the Charleston wave traveled with un- 
usual speed, for its mean velocity was about 17,000 feet a second. 
The focus of the disturbance was also ascertained. Apparently it 
was a double one, the two centres being about thirteen miles apart, 
and the line joining them running nearly the same distance to the 
west of Charleston. The approximate depth of the principal focus 
is given as twelve miles, with a possible error of less than two 
miles ; that of the minor one as roughly eight miles. 

The Charleston earthquake was felt as a tremor of more or 
less force through a wide area, embracing 900,000 square miles, and 
affecting nearly the whole country east of the Mississippi. It is 
said that the yield of the Pennsylvania natural gas wells decreased, 
and that a geyser in the Yellowstone valley burst into action after 



EARTHQUAKES OF THE UNITED STATES 167 

four years of rest. The movement of the earth-wave was in gen- 
eral north and south, deflected to east and west, and the snake-like 
fashion in which rails on the railroad were bent indicated both a 
vertical and a lateral force. 

This earthquake has been attributed to various causes, but 
geological experts think that it was due to a slip in the crust along' 
the Appalachian Mountain chain. There is a line of weakness 
along the eastern slope of this chain, characterized by fissures and 
faults, and it was thought that a strain had been gradually brought 
to bear upon this through the removal of earth from the land by 
rains and rivers and its deposition in thick strata on the sea- 
bottom. It is supposed that this variation in weight in time caused 
a yielding of the strata and a slip seaward of the great coastal 
plain. Professor Mendenhall, however, thinks it was due to a 
readjustment of the earth's crust to its gradually sinking nucleus. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The San Francisco Calamity and Other Earth- 
quakes of the Twentieth Century. 

GREATEST among the American cities of the Pacific coast is 
San Francisco, seated on its splendid bay and an active 
metropoHs of Pacific commerce. The one bane of its exist- 
ence is its perilous liability to earthquakes, fully 250 shocks having 
been recorded within its history. Greatest of these was that which 
we have now to record. 

On the 17th of April, 1906, the city was, as usual, gay, careless, 
busy, its people attending to business or pleasure with their ordinary 
vim as inclination led them, and not a soul dreaming of the horrors 
that lay in wait. They were as heedless of coming peril and death 
as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah before the rain of fire 
from heaven descended upon their devoted heads. This is not to 
say that they were doomed by God to destruction like these "cities 
of the plains." We should more wisely say that the forces of ruin 
within the earth take no heed of persons or places. They come and 
go as the conditions of nature demand, and if man has built one of 
his cities across their destined track, its doom comes from its situa- 
tion, not from the moral state of its inhabitants. 

THE GREAT DISASTER OF I906. 

That night the people went, with their wonted equanimity, to 
their beds, rich and poor, sick and well alike. Did any of them 
dream of disaster in the air? It may be so, for often, as the poet 
tell us, "Coming events cast their shadows before." But, fore- 

fi68) 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES i6g 

warned by dreams or not, doubtless not a soul in the great city was 
prepared for the terrible event so near at hand, when, at thirteen 
minutes past five o'clock on the dread morning of the i8th, they 
felt their beds lifted beneath them as if by a Titan hand, heard the 
crash of falling walls and ceilings, and saw everything in their 
rooms tossed madly about, while through their windows came the 
roar of an awful disaster from the city without. 

It was a matter not of minutes, but of seconds, yet on all 
that coast, long the prey of the earthquake, no shock like it had 
ever been felt, no such sudden terror awakened, no such terrible 
loss occasioned as in those few fearful seconds. Again and again 
the trembling of the earth passed by, three quickly repeated shocks, 
and the work of the demon of ruin was done. People woke with a 
start to find themselves flung from their beds to the floor, many of 
them covered with the fragments of broken ceilings, many lost 
among the ruins of falling floors and walls, many pinned in agoniz- 
ing suffering under the ruins of their houses, which had been utterly 
wrecked in those fatal seconds. Many there were, indeed, who had 
been flung to quick if not to instant death under their ruined homes. 
Those seconds of the reign of the elemental forces had turned 
the gayest, most careless city on the continent into a wreck which 
no words can fitly describe. Those able to move stumbled in wiM 
panic across the floors of their heaving houses, regardless of cloth- 
ing, of treasures, of everything but the mad instinct for safety, and 
rushed headlong into the streets, to find that the earth itself had 
yielded to the energy of its frightful interior forces and had in places 
been torn and rent like the houses themselves. New terrors assailed 
the fugitives as fresh tremors shook the solid ground, some of them 
strong enough to bring down shattered walls and chimneys, and 



I70 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

bring back much of the mad terror of the first fearful quake. The 
heaviest of these came at eight o'clock. While less forcible than 
that which had caused the work of destruction, it added immensely 
to the panic and dread of the people and put many of the wanderers 
to flight, some toward the ferry, the great mass in the direction of 
the sand dunes and Golden Gate Park. 

The spectacle of the entire population of a great city thus roused 
suddenly from slumber by a fierce earthquake shock and sent flying 
into the streets in utter panic, where not buried under falling walls 
or tumbling debris, is one that can scarcely be pictured in words, and 
can be given in any approach to exact realization only in the narra- 
tives of those who passed through its horrors and experienced the 
sensations to which it gave rise. Some of the more vivid of these 
personal accounts will be presented later, but at present we must 
confine ourselves to a general statement of the succession of events. 

The earthquake proved but the beginning and much the least 
destructive part of the disaster. In many of the buildings there 
were fires, banked for the night, but ready to kindle the inflammable 
material hurled down upon them by the shock. In others were live 
electric wires which the shock brought in contact with woodwork. 
The terror-stricken fugitives saw, here and there, in all directions 
around them, the alarming vision of red flames curling upward and 
outward, in gleaming contrast to the white light of dawn just show- 
ing in the eastern sky. Those lurid gleams climbed upward in 
devouring haste, and before the sun had fairly risen a dozen or more 
conflagrations were visible in all sections of the business part of the 
city, and in places great buildings broke with startling suddenness 
into flame, which shot hotly high into the air. 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTIIEK EARTHQUAKES 171 

While the mass of the people were stunned by the awful sud- 
denness of the disaster and stood rooted to the ground or wandered 
helplessly about in blank dismay, there were many alert and self- 
possessed among them who roused themselves quickly from their 
dismay and put their energies to useful work. Some of these gave 
themselves to the work of rescue, seeking to save the injured from 
their perilous situation and draw the bodies of the dead from the 
ruins under which they lay. Those base wretches to whom plunder 
is always the first thought were as quickly engaged in seeking for 
spoil in edifices laid open to their plundering hands by the shock. 
Meanwhile the glare of the flames brought the fire-fighters out in 
hot haste with their engines, and up from the military station at the 
Presidio, on the Golden Gate side of the city, came at double quick 
a force of soldiers, under the efficient command of General Funston, 
of Cuban and Philippine fame. These trained troops were at once 
put on guard over the city, with directions to keep the best order 
possible, and with strict command to shoot all looters at sight. 
Funston recognized at the start the necessity of keeping the lawless 
element under control in such an exigency as that which he had to 
face. Later in the day the First Regiment of California National 
Guards was called out and put on duty, with similar orders. 

RESCUERS AND FIRE-FIGHTERS. 

The work of fighting the fire was the first and greatest duty to 
be performed, but from the start it proved a very difficult, almost a 
hopeless, task. With fierce fires burning at once in a dozen or more 
separate places, the fire department of the city would have been 
inadequate to cope with the demon of flame even under the best of 
circumstances. As it was, they found themselves handicapped at 



172 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

the start by a nearly total lack of water. The earthquake had dis- 
arranged and broken the water mains and there was scarcely a drop 
of water to be had, so that the engines proved next to useless. Water 
might be drawn from the bay, but the centre of the conflagration 
,was a mile or more away, and this great body of water was rendered 
(useless in the stringent exigency. 

The only hope that remained to the authorities was to endeavor 
to check the progress of the flames by the use of dynamite, blowing 
up buildings in the line of progress of the conflagration. This was 
put in practice without loss of time, and soon the thunder-like roar 
of the explosions began, blasts being heard every few minutes, each 
signifying that some building had been blown to atoms. But over 
the gaps thus made the flames leaped, and though the brave fellows 
worked with a desperation and energy of the most heroic type, it 
seemed as if all their labors were to be without avail, the terrible fire 
marching on as steadily as if a colony of ants had sought to stay its 
devastating progress. 

THE HORROR OF THE PEOPLE. 

It was with grief and horror that the mass of the people gazed 
on this steady march of the army of ruin. They were seemingly half 
dazed by the magnitude of the disaster, strangely passive in the face 
of the ruin that surrounded them, as if stunned by despair and not 
jTt awakened to a realization of the horrors of the situation. Among 
these was the possibility of famine. No city at any time carries 
more than a few days' supply of provisions, and with the wholesale 
districts and warehouse regions invaded by the flames the shortage 
of food made itself apparent from the start. Water was even more 
difficult to obtain, the supply being nearly all cut off. Those who 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 173 

possessed supplies of food and liquids of any kind in many cases 
took advantage of the opportunity to advance their prices. Thus 
an Associated Press man was obliged to. pay twenty-five cents for 
a small glass of mineral water, the only kind of drink that at first 
was to be had, while food went up at the same rate, bakers frequently 
charging as much as a dollar for a loaf. As for the expressmen and 
cabmen, their charges were often practically prohibitory, as much 
as fifty dollars being asked for the conveyance of a passenger to the 
ferry. Policemen were early stationed at some of the retail shops, 
regulating the sale and the price of food, and permitting only a 
small portion to be sold to each purchaser, so as to prevent a few 
persons from exhausting the supply. 

The fire, the swaying and tottering walls, the frequent dynamite 
explosions, each followed by a crashing shower of stones and bricks, 
rendered the streets very unsafe for pedestrians, and all day long 
the flight of residents from the city went on, growing quickly to the 
dimensions of a panic. The ferryboats were crowded with those 
who wished to leave the city, and a constant stream of the homeless, 
carrying such articles as they had rescued from their homes, was 
kept up all day long, seeking the sand dunes, the parks and every 
place uninvaded by the flames. Before night Golden Gate Park and 
the unbuilt districts adjoining on the ocean side presented the appear- 
ance of a tented city, shelter of many kinds being improvised from 
bedding and blankets, and the people settling into such sparse com- 
fort as these inadequate means provided. 

A strange feature of the disaster was a rush to the banks by 
people who wished to get their money and flee from the seemingly 
doomed city. The fire front was yet distant from these institutions, 
which were destined to fall a prey to the flames, and all that morning 



.174 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

lines of dishevelled and half-frantic men stood before the banks on 
Montgomery and Sansome Strets, braving in their thirst for money 
the smoke and falling embers and beating in wild anxiety upon the 
doors. Their effort was vain; the doors remained closed; finally 
the police drove these people away, and the banks went on with the 
work of saving their valuables. As for the people who wildly fled 
toward the ferries, in spite of the fact that ten blocks of fire, as the 
day went on, stopped all egress in that direction, it became necessary 
for them to be driven back by the police and the troops, and they 
were finally forced to seek safety in the sands. And thus, with 
incident manifold, went on that fatal Wednesday, the first day of 
the dread disaster. 

OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE EARTHQUAKE. 

It is important here to give the official record of the earthquake 
shocks, as given by the scientists. Professor George Davidson, of 
the University of California, says of them : 

"The earthquake came from north to south, and the only de- 
scription I am able to give of its effect is that it seemed like a terrier 
shaking a rat. I was in bed, but was awakened by the first shock. 
I began vo count the seconds as I went towards the table where my 
watch was, being able through much practice closely to approximate 
the time in that manner. The shock came at 5.12 o'clock. The first 
sixty seconds were the most severe. From that time on it decreased 
gradually for about thirty seconds. There was then the slightest 
perceptible lull. Then the shock continued for sixty seconds longer, 
being slighter in degree in this minute than in any part of the 
preceding minute and a half. There were two slight shocks after- 
wards which I did not time. At 8.14 o'clock I recorded a shock of 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 175 

five seconds' duration, and one at 4.15 of two seconds. There were 
slight shocks which I did not record at 5.17 and at 5.27. At 6.50 
p. M. there was a sharp shock of several seconds." 

Professor A. O. Louschner, of the students' observatory of the 
University of California, thus records his observations : 

"The principal part of the earthquake came in two sections, the 
first series of vibrations lasting about forty seconds. The vibrations 
diminished gradually during the following ten seconds, and then 
occurred with renewed vigor for about twenty-five seconds more. 
But even at noon the disturbance had not subsided, as slight shocks 
are recorded at frequent intervals on the seismograph. The motion 
was from south-southeast to north-northwest. 

"The remarkable feature of this earthquake, aside from its 
intensity, was its rotary motion. As seen from the print, the sum 
total of all displacements represents a very regular ellipse, and some 
of the lines representing the earth's motion can be traced along the 
whole circumference. The result of observation indicates that our 
heaviest shocks are in the direction south-southeast to north-north- 
west. In that respect the records of the three heaviest earthquakes 
agree entirely. But they have several other features in common. 
One of these is that while the displacements are very large the vibra- 
tion period is comparatively slow, amounting to about one second 
in the last tw^o big earthquakes." 

If we seek to discover the actual damage done by the earth- 
quake, the fact stands out that the fire followed so close upon it that 
the traces of its ravages were in many cases obliterated. So many 
buildings in the territory of the severest shock fell a prey to the 
flames or to dynamite that the actual w^ork of the earth forces was 

made difficult and in many places impossible to discover. This fact 
3 



176 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

was on that led to considerable dispute and delay when the question 
of insurance adjustment came up, many of the insurance companies 
having confined their risk to fire damage and claiming exemption 
from liability in the case of damage due to earthquake. 

Among the chief victims of the earth-shake was the costly and 
showy City Hall, with its picturesque dome standing loftily above 
the structure. tThis dome was left still erect, but only as a skeleton 
might stand, with its flesh gone and its spare ribs exposed to the 
searching air. Its roof, its smaller towers came tumbling down in 
frightful disarray, and the once proud edifice is to-day a miserable 
wreck, fire having aided earthquake in its ruin. The new Post 
Office, a handsome government building, also suffered severely 
from the shock, its walls being badly cracked and injury done by 
earthquake and fire that it is estimated will need half a million dollars 
to repair. 

FREAKS OF THE EARTHQUAKE. 

One observer states that the earthquake appeared to be very 
irregular in its course. He tells us that "there are gas reservoirs 
with frames all twisted and big factories thrown to the ground, 
while a few yards away are miserable shanties with not a board out 
of place. Wooden, steel and brick structures hardly felt the earth- 
quake in some parts of the city, while in other places all were 
wrecked, 

"Skirting the shore northwest from the big ferry building — 
which was so seriously injured that it will have to be rebuilt — the 
first thing observed was the extraordinary irregularity of the earth- 
quake's course. Pier No. 5, for instance, is nothing but a mass of 
ruins, while Pier No. 3, on one side of it and Pier No. 7, on the other 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 177 

side, similar in size and construction, are undamaged. Farther on, 
the Kosmos Line pier is a complete wreck." 

The big forts at the entrance to the Golden Gate also suffered 
seriously from the great shake-up, and the emplacements of the big 
guns were cracked and damaged. The same was the case with the 
fortifications back of Old Fort Point, the great guns in these being 
for the time rendered useless. It took much time and labor to re- 
store their delicate adjustment upon their carriages. 

The buildings that collapsed in the city were all flimsy wooden 
buildings and old brick structures, the steel frame buildings, even 
the score or more in course of construction, escaping injury from 
the earthquake shock. Of the former, one of the most complete 
wrecks was the Valencia Hotel, a four-story wooden building, which 
collapsed into a heap of ruins, pinning many persons under its 
splintered timbers. 

SKYSCRAPERS EARTHQUAKE PROOF. 

In fact, as the reports of damage wrought by the earthquake 
came in, the conviction grew that one of the safest places during 
the earthquake shock was on one of the upper floors of the sky- 
scraper office buildings or hotels. As a matter of fact, not a single 
person, so far as can be learned, lost his or her life or was seriously 
injured in any of the tall, steel frame structures in the city, although 
they rocked during the quake like a ship in a gale. 

The loss of life was caused in almost every case by the collapse 
of frame structures, which the native San Franciscan believed was 
the safest of all in an earthquake, or by the shaking down of portions 
of brick or stone buildings which did not possess an iron framework. 
The manner in which the tall steel structures withstood the shock 



178 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

is a complete vindication of the strongest claims yet made for them, 
and it is made doubly interesting from the fact that this is the first 
occasion on which the effect of an earthquake of any proportions 
on a tall steel structure could be studied. 

The St. Francis Hotel, a sixteen-story structure, could be re- 
paired at an expenditure of about $4CX),ooo, its damage being almost 
wholly by fire. The steel shell and the floors were intact. Although 
the building rocked like a ship in a gale while the quake lasted, its 
foundations were undamaged. Other steel buildings which were so 
little damaged as to admit of repairs more or less extensive were the 
James Flood, the Union Trust, the Call building, the Mutual Savings 
Bank, the Crocker- Woolworth building and the Postal building. 
All of these were modern buildings of steel construction, from sixteen 
to twenty stories. 

A peculiar feature of the effect of the earthquake on structures 
of this kind is reported in the case of the Fairmount Hotel, a four- 
teen-story structure. The first two stories of the Fairmount were 
found to be so seriously damaged that they would have to be rebuilt, 
while the other twelve stories were uninjured. 

Various explanations have been made of the surprising resist- 
ance shown by the skyscrapers. The great strength and binding 
power of the steel frame, combined with a deep-seated foundation 
and great lightness as compared with buildings of stone, are the main 
reasons given. The iron, it is said, unlike stone, responded to the 
vibratory force and passed it along to be expended in other direc- 
tions, while brick or stone offered a solid and impenetrable front, 
with the result that the seismic force tended to expend itself by 
shaking the building to pieces. 

Whether there is any scientific basis for the latter theory or 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 179 

not, it seems reasonable enough, in view of the descriptions given 
us of the manner in which the steel buildings received the shock. 
All things considered, the modern steel building has afforded in the 
San Francisco earthquake the most convincing evidence of its 
strength. 

From Golden Gate Park came news of the total destruction of 
the large building covering a portion of the Children's playground. 
The walls were shattered beyond repair, the roof fell in, and the 
destruction was complete. The pillars of the new stone gates at the 
park entrance were twisted and torn from their foundations, some 
of them, weighing nearly four tons, being shifted as though they 
were made of cork. It is a little singular that the monuments and 
statues in the city escaped without damage except in the case of the 
imposing Dewey Monument, in Union Square Park, which suffered 
what appears to be a minor injury. 

In this connection an incident of extraordinary character is 
narrated. Among the statues on the buildings of the Leland Stan- 
ford, Jr., University, all of which were overthrown, was a marble 
statue of Carrara in a niche on the building devoted to zoology and 
physiology. This in falling broke through a hard cement pavement 
and buried itself in the ground below, from which it was dug. The 
singular fact is that when recovered it proved to be without a crack 
or scratch. This university seemed to be a central point in the 
disturbance, the destruction of its buildings being almost total, 
though they had been built with the especial design of resisting 
earthquake shocks. 

Such was the general character of the earthquake at San 
Francisco and in its vicinity. It may be said farther that all, or very 
nearly all, the deaths and injuries were due to it directly or indirectly. 



I So SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

even those who perished by fire owing their deaths to the fact of their 
being pinned in buildings ruined by the earthquake shock, while 
others were killed by falling walls weakened by the same cause. 

On the night of April 23d the earth tremor returned with a 
slight shock, only sufficient to cause a temporary alarm. On the 
afternoon of the 25th came another and severer one, strong enough 
to shake down some tottering walls and add another to the list of 
victims. This was a woman named Annie Whitaker, who was at 
work in the kitchen of her home at the time. The chimney, which 
had been weakened by the great shock, now fell, crashing through 
the roof and fracturing her skull. Thus the earth powers claimed 
a final human sacrifice before their dread visitation ended. 

FIRE INVADES THE CITY. 

The terrors of the earthquake are momentary. One fierce, 
levelling shock and usually all is over. The torment within the 
earth has passed on and the awakened forces of the earth's crust 
sink into rest again, after having shaken the surface for many 
leagues. Rarely does the dread agent of ruin leave behind it such 
a terrible follower to complete its work as was the case in the 
doomed city of San Francisco. All seemed to lead towards such 
a carnival of ruin as the earth has rarely seen. The demon of fire 
followed close upon the heels of the unseen fiend of the earth's 
hidden caverns, and ran red-handed through the metropolis of the 
West, kindling a thousand unhurt; buildings, while the horror- 
stricken people stood aghast in terror, as helpless to combat this 
Hew enemy as they were to check the ravages of the earthquake 
itself. 

The iron mains which carried the precious fluid under the city 



SAN FRAA'CISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES iSi 

Streets were broken or injured so that no quenching streams were to 
be had. In some cases the engine houses had been so damaged that 
the fire-fighting apparatus could not be taken out, though even if it 
had it would have been useless. A sweeping conflagration and 
not an ounce of water to throw upon it ! The situation of the people 
was a maddening one. They were forced helplessly and hopelessly 
to gaze upon the destruction of their all, and it is no marvel if many 
of them grew frantic and lost their reason at the sight. Thousands 
gathered and looked on in blank and pitiful misery, their strong- 
hands, their iron wills of no avail, while the red-lipped fire devoured 
the hopes of their lives. 

In a dozen, a hundred, places the flames shot up redly. Huge, 
strong buildings which the earthquake had spared fell an unre- 
sisting prey to the flames. The great, iron-bound, towering 
Spreckles building, a steeple-like structure, of eighteen stories in 
height, the tallest skyscraper in the city, had resisted the earth- 
quake and remained proudly erect. But now the flames gathered 
round and assailed it. From both sides came their attack. A broad 
district near by, containing many large hotels and lodging houses, 
was being fiercely burnt out, and soon the windows of the lofty 
building cracked and splintered, the flames shot triumphantly 
within, and almost in an instant the vast interior was a seething 
furnace, the wild flames rushing and leaping within until only the 
blackened walls remained. 

All day Wednesday the fire spread unchecked, all efforts to stay 
its devouring fury proving futile. In the business section of the 
city everything was in ruins. Not a business house was left stand- 
ing. Theatres crumbled into smouldering heaps. Factories and 
commission houses sank to red ruin before the devouring flames. 



1 82 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

The scene was like that of ancient Babylon in its fall, or old Rome 
when set on fire by Nero's command, as tradition tells. In modern 
times there has been nothing to equal it except the conflagration at 
Chicago, when the flames swept to ruin that queen city of the Great 
Lakes. 

When night fell and the sun withdrew his beams the spectacle 
was one at once magnificent and awe-inspiring. The city resembled 
one vast blazing furnace. Looking over it from a high hill in the 
western section, the flames could be seen ascending skyward for 
miles upon miles, while in the midst of the red spirals of flame could 
be seen at intervals the black skeletons and falling towers of doomed 
buildings. Above all this hung a dense pall of smoke, showing 
lurid where the flames were reflected from its dark and threatening 
surface. To those nearer the scene presented many pathetic and 
distressing features, the fire glare throwing weird shadows over 
the worn and panic-stricken faces of the woe-begone fugitives, 
driven from their homes and wandering the streets in helpless 
misery. Many of them lay sleeping on piles of blankets and clothing 
which they had brought with them, or on the hard sidewalks, or the 
grass of the open parks. 

FIRE ATTACKS THE MINT. 

The escape of the United States Mint was one of the most 
remarkable incidents. Within the vaults of this fine structure was 
the vast sum of $300,000,000 in gold and silver coin and a value of 
$8,000,000 in bullion, and toward this mighty sum of wealth the 
flames swept on all sides, as if eager to add the reservoir of the 
precious metals to their spoils. The Mint building passed through 
the earthquake with little damage, though its big smokestacks were 



5.4A' FRAXCISCO AXD OTHER EARTHQUAKES 183 

badly shaken. The fire seemed bent on making it its prey, every 
building around it being burned to the ground, and it remaining the 
only building for blocks that escaped destruction. 

Its safety was due to the energy and activity of its employees. 
Superintendent Leach reached it shortly after the shock and found 
a number of men already there, whom he stationed at points of 
vantage from roof to basement. The fire apparatus of the Mint 
was brought into service and help given by the fire department, 
and after a period of strenuous labor the flames were driven back. 
The peril for a time was critical, the windows on Mint Avenue 
taking fire and also those on the rear three stories, and the flames 
for a time pouring in and driving back the workers. The roof also 
caught fire, but the men within fought like Titans, and efficient aid 
was given by a squad of soldiers sent to them,. In the end the fire 
fiend was vanquished, though considerable damage was done to the 
adjusting rooms and the refinery, while the heavy stone cornice on 
that side of the building was destroyed. The total loss to the Mint 
was later estimated at $15,000. 

Late on Wednesday evening the fire front crept close up to 
Mechanics'Pavilion, where a corps of fifty physicians and numerous 
nurses were active in the work of relief to the wounded. Ambu- 
lances and automobiles were busy unloading new patients rescued 
from the ruins when word came that the building would have to be 
vacated in haste. Every available vehicle was at once pressed into 
service and the patients removed as rapidly as possible, being taken 
to hospitals and private houses in the safer parts of the city. Hardly 
had the last of the injured been carried through the door when the 
roof was seen to be in a blaze, and shortly afterward the whole 
building burst into a whirlwind of flame. 



i84 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

At midnight the fire was raging and roaring with unslacked 
rage, and at dawn of Thursday its fury was undiminished. The 
work of destruction was already immense. In much of the Hayes 
Valley district, south of McAllister and north of Market Street, 
the destruction was complete. From the Mechanics' Pavilion and 
St. Nicholas Hotel opposite down to Oakland Ferry the journey 
was heartrending, the scene appalling. On each side was ruin, 
nothing but ruin, and hillocks of masonry and heaps of rubbish of 
every description filled to its middle the city's greatest thoroughfare. 

THE PALACES ON NOB's HILL. 

In the centre of San Francisco rises the aristocratic elevation 
known as Nob's Hill, on which the early millionaires built their 
homes, and on which stood the city's most palatial residences. It 
ascends so abruptly from Kearney Street that it is inaccessible to 
any kind of vehicle, the slope being at an angle little short of forty- 
five degrees. It is as steep on the south side, and the only approach 
by carriage is from the north. To this hill is due the pioneer cable 
railway, built in the early '70's. 

Here the "big four" of the railroad magnates — Stanford 
Hopkins, Huntington and Crocker — had put millions in their man- 
sions, the Mark Hopkins residence being said to have cost $2,500,- 
000. These men are all dead, and the last named edifice has been 
converged into the Hopkins Art Institute, and at the time of the fire 
was well filled with costly art treasures. The Stanford Museum, 
which also contains valuable objects of art, is now the property of 
the Leland Stanford University. The Flood mansion, which cost 
more than $1,000,000, was one of the showy residences on this hill, 
west of it being the Huntington home and farther west the Crocker 



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i86 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

residence, with its broad lawns and magnificent stables. Many 
other beautiful and costly houses stood on this hill, and opposite the 
Stanford and Hopkins edifices the great Fairmount Hotel had for 
two years past been in process of construction and was practically 
completed. On the northeastern slope of this hill stood the famous 
Chinatown, through which it was necessary to pass to ascend Nob's 
Hill from the principal section of the wholesale district. 

This region of palaces was the next to fall a prey to the in- 
satiable flames. Early Thursday morning a change in the wind 
sent the fire westward, eating its way from the water front north of 
Market Street toward Nob's Hill. Steadily but surely it climbed 
the slope, and the Stanford and Hopkins edifices fell victims to its 
fury. Others of the palaces of the millionairedom followed. Huge 
clouds of smoke enveloped the beautiful white stone Fairmount 
Hotel, and there was a general feeling of horror when this magnifi- 
cent structure seemed doomed. To it the Committee of Safety had 
retreated, but the flames from the burning buildings opposite reached 
it, and the committee once more migrated in search of safe quarters. 
Fortunately, it escaped with little damage, its walls remaining 
intact and much of the interior being left in a state of preservation, 
warranting its managers to offer space within it to the committees 
whose aim it was to help the homeless or to store supplies. Some 
of the woodwork of the building was destroyed by the fire, but the 
structure was in such good condition that work on it was quickly 
resumed, with the statement that its completion would not be delayed 
more than three months beyond the date set, which was November, 
1906. 

In the district extending northwestwardly from Kearney Street 
and Montgomery Avenue, untouched during the first day, the fire 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 187 

spread freely on the second. This district embraces the Latin quar- 
ter, peopled by various nationalities, the houses being of the flimsiest 
construction. Once it had gained a foothold there, the fire swept 
onward as though making its way through a forest in the driest 
summer season. 

An apocryphal incident is told of the fire in this quarter, which 
may be repeated as one example of the fables set afloat- It is stated 
that water to fight the fire here was sadly lacking, the only avail- 
able supply being from an old well. At a critical moment the pump 
sucked dry, the water in the well being exhausted. The residents 
were not yet conquered. Some of them threw open their cellar 
doors and, calling for assistance, began to roll out barrels of red 
wine. Barrel after barrel appeared, until fully five hundred gallons 
were ready for use. Then the barrel heads were smashed in and 
the bucket brigade turned from water to wine. Sacks were dipped 
in the wine and used for fighting the fire. Beds were stripped of 
their blankets and these soaked in the wine and hung over exposed 
portions of the cottages, while men on the roofs drenched the 
shingles and sides of the houses with wine. The postscript to this 
queer story is that the wine won and the fire-fighters saved their 
homes. The story is worth retelling, though it may be added that 
wine, if it contained much alcohol, would serve as a feeder rather 
than as an extinguisher of flame. 

Shaken by earthquake, swept by flames, the water supply cut 
off by the breaking of the mains, what could be done to stay the 
fierce march of the flames which were sweeping resistlessly over 
palace and hovel alike, over stately hall and miserable hut? Water 
was not to be had; what was to take its place? Nothing remained 
but to meet ruin with ruin, to make a desert in the path of the fire 



i88 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

and thus seek to stop its march. They had dynamite, gunpowder 
and other explosives, and in the frightful exigency there was nothing 
else to be used. Only for a brief interval did the authorities yield 
to the general feeling of helplessness. Then they aroused them- 
selves to the demands of the occasion and prepared to do all in 
the power of man in the effort to arrest the conflagration. 

A band of fire-fighters was quickly organized by the Mayor and 
Chief of Police, and the devoted firemen put themselves in the face 
of the flames, determined to do their utmost to stay them in their 
Course. Cut off from the use of their accustomed engines and 
water streams, which might have been effective if brought into 
play at the beginning of the struggle, there was nothing to work 
with but the dynamite cartridge and the gunpowder mine, and they 
set bravely to work to do what they could with these. On every 
side the roar of explosions could be heard, and the crash of falling 
walls came to the ear, while people were forced to leave buildings 
which still stood, but which it was decided must be felled. Fre- 
quently a crash of stone and brick, followed by a cloud of dust, gave 
warning to pedestrians that destruction was going on in the fore- 
front of the flames, and that travel in such localities was unsafe. 

FIGHTING THE FLAMES. 

All through the night of Wednesday and the morning of 
Thursday this work went on, hopelessly but resolutely. During the 
following day blasts could be heard in different sections at intervals 
of a few minutes, and buildings not destroyed by fire were blown 
to atoms, but over the gaps jumped the live flames, and the dis- 
heartened fire-fighters were driven back step by step; but they con- 
tinued the work with little regard for their own safety and with 
unflinching desperation. 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 189 

The engines almost from the start had proved useless from lack 
of water, and were either abandoned or moved to the outlying dis- 
tricts, in the vain hope that the water mains might be repaired in 
time to permit of a final stand against the whirlwind march of the 
flames. The cloud of despair grew darker still as the report spread 
that the city's supply of dynamite had given out. 

"No more dynamite ! No more dynamite !" screamed a fireman 
as he ran up Ellis Street past the doomed Flood building at two 
o'clock on Friday morning, tears standing in his smoke-smirched 
eyes. 

"No more dynamite! O God! no more dynamite! We are 
lost !" moaned the throng that heard his despairing words. 

A NEW SUPPLY OF EXPLOSIVES. 

So, at that hour, the supply of the explosive exhausted, and 
not a dozen streams of water being thrown in the entire fire zone, 
the stunned firemen and the stupefied people stood helpless with 
their eyes fixed in despair upon the swiftly creeping flames. 

Had all been like these the entire city would have been doomed, 
but there were those at the head of afifairs who never for a moment 
gave up their resolution. Dynamite and giant powder were to be 
had in the Presidio military reservation, and a requisition upon the 
army authorities was made. The louder reverberations as the day 
advanced and night came on showed that a fresh supply had been 
obtained, and that a new and determined campaign against the 
conflagration had been entered upon. Hitherto much of the work 
had been ignorantly and carelessly done, and by the hasty and 
premature use of explosives more harm than good had been 
occasioned. 



I90 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

As the fire continued to spread in spite of the heroic work of 
the fighting corps, the Committee of Safety called a meeting at 
noon on Friday and decided to blow up all the residences on the 
east side of Van Ness Avenue, between Golden Gate and Pacific 
Avenues, a distance of one mile. Van Ness Avenue was one of the 
most fashionable streets of the city and has a width of 125 feet, a 
fact which led to the idea that a safety line might be made here too 
broad for the flames to cross. 

The firemen, therefore, although exhausted from over twenty- 
four hours' work and lack of food, determined to make a desperate 
stand at this point. They declared that should the fire cross Van 
Ness Avenue and the wind continue its earlier direction toward 
the west, the destruction of San Francisco would be virtually com- 
plete. The district west of Van Ness Avenue and north of Mc- 
Allister constituted the finest part of the metropolis. Here were 
located all of the finer homes of the well-to-do and wealthier classes, 
and the resolution to destroy them was the last resort of desperation. 

Hundreds of police, regiments of soldiers and scores of volun- 
teers were sent into the doomed district to warn the people to flee. 
They heroically responded to the demand of law and went bravely 
on their way, leaving their loved homes and trudging painfully 
over the pavements with the little they could carry away of their 
treasured possessions. 

The reply of a grizzled fire engineer standing at O'Farrell 
Street and Van Ness Avenue, beside a blackened engine, may not 
have been as terse as that of Hugo's guardsman at Waterloo, but 
the pathos of it must have been as great. In answer to the question 
of what they proposed to do, he said : 

"We are waiting for it to come. When it gets here we will 



5.4.V FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 191 

make one more stand, if it crosses Van Ness Avenue the city 
is gone." 

THE SAVERS OF THE CITY. 

Yet the work now to be done was much too important to be 
left to hands of untrained volunteers. Skilled engineers were 
needed, a man used to the scientific handling of explosives, and it was 
men of this kind who finally saved what is left to-day of the city. 
Three men saved San Francisco, so far as any San Francisco existed 
after the fire had worked its will, these three constituting the dyna- 
mite squad who faced and defied the demon at Van Ness Avenue. 

When the burning city seemed doomed and the flames lit the 
sky farther and farther to the west, Admiral McCalla sent a trio 
of his most trusted men from Mare Island with orders to check the 
conflagration at any cost of property. With them they brought a 
ton and a half of guncotton. The terrific power of the explosive 
was equal to the maniac determination of the fire. Captain Mac- 
Bride was in charge of the squad, Chief Gunner Adamson placed 
the charges and the third gunner set them off. 

Stationing themselves on Van Ness Avenue, which the con- 
flagration was approaching with leaps and bounds from the burning 
business section of the city, they went systematically to work, and 
when they had ended a broad open space, occupied only by the 
dismantled ruins of buildings, remained of what had been a long 
row of handsome and costly residences, which, with all their treas- 
ures of furniture and articles of decoration, had been consigned to 
hideous ruin. 

The thunderous detonations, to which the terrified city listened 
all that dreadful Friday night, meant much to those whose ears were 



192 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

deafened by them. A million dollars' worth of property, noble 
residences and worthless shacks alike, were blown to drifting dust, 
but that destruction broke the fire and sent the raging flames back 
over their own charred path. The whole east side of Van Ness 
Avenue, from the Golden Gate to Greenwich, a distance of twenty- 
two blocks, or a mile and a half, was dynamited a block deep, though 
most of the structures as yet had stood untouched by spark or 
cinder. Not one charge failed. Not one building stood upon its 
foundation. 

Unless some second malicious miracle of nature should reverse 
the direction of the west wind, by nine o'clock it was felt that the 
populous district to the west, blocked with fleeing refugees and 
unilluminated except by the disastrous glare on the water front, 
was safe. Every pound of guncotton did its work, and though the 
ruins burned, it was but feebly. From Golden Gate Avenue north 
the fire crossed the wide street in but one place. That was at the 
Glaus Spreckels place, on the corner of California Street. 

There the flames were writhing up the walls before the dyna- 
miters could reach the spot. Yet they made their way to the foun- 
dations, carrying their explosives, despite the furnace-like heat. 
The charge had to be placed so swiftly and the fuse lit in such a 
hurry that the explosion was not quite successful from the trained 
viewpoint of the gunners. But though the walls still stood, it was 
only an empty victory for the fire, as bare brick and smoking ruins 
are poor food for flames. 

Captain MacBride's dynamiting squad had realized that a 
stand was hopeless except on Van Ness Avenue, their decision thus 
coinciding with that of the authorities. They could have forced 
their explosives farther in the burning section, but not a pound of 
guncotton could be or was wasted. The ruined blocks of the wide 



SAX FKAXCfSCO AND OTHER EAKTIKjUAKES 103 

thoroughfare formed a trench through the clustered structures that 
the conflagation, wild as it was, could not leap. Engines pumping 
brine throug-h Fort Mason from the bay completed the little work 
that the guncotton had left, but for three days the haggard-eyed 
firemen guarded the flickering ruins. 

The desolate wasta straight through the heart of the city 
remained a mute witness to the most heroic and effective work of 
the whole calamity. Three men did this, and when their work was 
over and what stood of the city rested quietly for the first time, 
they departed as modestly as they had come. They were ordered 
to save San Francisco, and they obeyed orders, and Captain Mac- 
Bride and his two gunners made history on that dreadful night. 

They stayed the march of the conflagration at that critical 
point, leaving it no channel to spread except along the wharf region, 
in which its final force was spent. One side of Van Ness Avenue 
was gone; the other remained, the fire leaping the broad open space 
only feebly in a few places, where it was easily extinguished. 

During the height of the struggle and the days of exhaustion 
and depression that followed, exaggerated accounts of the losses and 
of the area swept by the flames were current, some estimate making 
the extent of the fire fifteen square miles out of the total of twenty- 
five square miles of the city's area. It was not until Friday, the 27th, 
that an official survey of the burned district, made by City Surveyor 
Woodward, was completed, and the total area burned over found to 
be 2,500 acres, a trifle less than four square miles. This, however, 
embraced the heart of the business section and many of the principal 
residence streets, much of the saved area being occupied by the 
dwellings of the poorer people, so that the money loss was immensely 
greater than the percentage of ground burned over would indicate. 



194 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

Fortunately, the loss of life was very small compared with the 
extent of the disaster, and with the records of other cities similarly 
overthrown. As regards the whole number killed it was impossible 
to make a full and accurate statement While about 350 bodies had 
been recovered at the end of the second week, no one could estimate 
how many lay buried under the ruins, to be discovered only as the 
work of excavation went on, and how many more had been utterly 
consumed by the flames, leaving no trace of their existence. The 
estimates of the probable loss of life ran up to 1,500 and more, while 
the injured were very numerous. The great bulk of the people 
escaped, fleeing to the open park in the western section of the city 
and to the ferries leading to Oakland, which had met with little 
damage. 

SANTA ROSA AND SAN JOSE. 

The San Francisco earthquake was far from being a local catas- 
trophe, since the full force of the seismic waves travelled from 
Ukiah in the north to Monterey in the south, a distance of about 
180 miles, and made itself felt for a considerable distance from 
the Pacific westward, wrecking the larger buildings of every town 
in its path, rending and ruining as it went, and doing millions of 
dollars worth of damage. 

In Santa Rosa, sixty miles to the north of San Francisco, and 
one of the most beautiful towns of California, practically every 
building was destroyed or badly damaged. The brick and stone 
business blocks, together with the public buildings, were thrown 
down. The Court House, Hall of Records, the Occidental and 
Santa Rosa Hotels, the Athenaeum Theatre, the new Masonic Tem- 
ple, Odd Fellows' Block, all the banks, everything went, and in 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 195 

all the city not one brick or stone building was left standing, except 
the California Northwestern Depot. 

In the residential portion of the city the foundations receded 
from under the houses, badly wrecking about twenty of the largest 
and damaging every one more or less; and here, as in San Fran- 
cisco, flames followed the earthquake, breaking out in a dozen 
different places at once and completing the work of devastation. 
From the ruins of the fallen houses fifty-eight bodies were taken 
out and interred during the first few days, and the total of dead 
and injured was close to a hundred. The money loss at this small 
city is estimated at $3,000,000. 

The destruction of Santa Rosa gave rise to general sorrow 
among the residents of the interior of the State. It was one of the' 
show towns of California, and not only one of the most prosperous 
cities in the fine county of Sonoma, but one of the most picturesque 
in the State. Surrounding it there were miles of orchards, vineyards 
and corn fields. The beautiful drives of the city were adorned with 
bowers of roses, which everywhere were seen growing about the 
homes of the people. In its vicinity are the famous gardens of 
Luther Burbank, the "California wizard," but these fortunately 
escaped injury. 

At San Jose, another very beautiful city of over 20,000 popu- 
lation, not a single brick or stone building of two stories or over 
was left standing. Among those wrecked were the Hall of Justice, 
just completed at a cost of over $300,000; the new High School, the 
Presbyterian Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Numbers of 
people were caught in the ruins and maimed or killed. The death 
list appears to have been small, but the property damage was not 
less than $5,000,000. The Agnew State Insane Asylum, in the 



196 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

vicinity of San Jose, was entirely destroyed, more than half the 
inmates being killed or injured. 

THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY. 

The Leland Stanford, Jr., University, at Palo Alto (about 
thirty miles south of San Francisco), felt the full force of the earth- 
quake and was badly wrecked. Only two lives were lost as a result 
of the earthquake, one of a student, the other of a fireman, but eight 
students were injured more or less seriously. The damage to the 
buildings is estimated by President Jordan to amount to about 
$4,000,000. 

The memorial church, with its twelve marble figures of the 
apostles, each weighing two tons, was badly injured by the fall of 
its Gothic spire, which crashed through the roof and demolished 
much of the interior; the great entrance archway was split in twain 
and wrecked; so, too, were the library, the gymnasium and the 
power houes. A number of other buildings in the outer quadrangle 
and some of the small workshops were seriously damaged. 

Encina Hall and the inner quadrangle were practically un- 
injured, and the bulk of the books, collections and apparatus escaped 
damage. 

Sacramento, together with all the smaller cities and towns 
that dot the great Sacramento Valley for a distance of fifty miles 
south and 150 miles north of the capital, escaped without injury, 
not a single pane of glass being broken or a brick displaced in 
Sacramento and no injury done in the other places, they lying east- 
ward of the seat of serious earthquake activity. 

Los Angeles and Santa Barbara escaped with a slight trem- 
bling; Stockton, 103 miles north of San Francisco, felt a severe 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 197 

shock and the Santa Fe bridge over the San Joaquin River at this 
point settled several inches. The only place in Southern California 
that suffered was Brawley, a small town lying 120 miles south of 
Los Angeles, about 100 buildings in the town and the surrounding 
\alley being injured, though none of them were destroyed. 

THE EARTHQUAKE AT OTHER CITIES. 

At Alameda, on the bay opposite San Francisco, a score of 
chimneys were shaken down and other injuries done. Railroad 
tracks were twisted, and over 600 feet of track of the Oakland 
Transit Company's railway sank four feet. The total damage done 
amounted to probably $200,000, but no lives were lost. Tomales, a 
place of 350 inhabitants, was left a pile of ruins. 

At Los Panos several buildings were wrecked, causing damage 
to the extent of $75,000, but no lives were lost. 

At Loma Prieta the earthquake caused a mine house to slip 
down the side of a mountain, ten men being buried in the ruins. 

Fort Bragg, one of the principal lumbering towns in Men- 
docino County, was practically wiped out by fire following the earth- 
quake, but out of a population of 5,000 only one was killed, though 
scores were injured. 

The town of Berkeley, across the bay from San Francisco, 
suffered considerable damage from twisted structures, fallen walls 
and broken chimneys, the greatest injury being in the collapse of 
the town hall and the ruin of the deaf and dumb asylum. The 
University of California, situated here, was fortunate in escaping 
injury, it being reported that not a building was harmed in the 
slightest degree. Another public edifice of importance and interest, 



198 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

in a different section of the State, the famous Lick Astronomical 
Observatory, was equally fortunate, no damage being done to the 
buildings or the instruments. 

THE EFFECTS AT SALINAS. 

Salinas, a town down the coast near Monterey, suffered se- 
verely, the place being to a large extent destroyed, with an estimated 
loss of over $1,000,000. The Spreckles' sugar factory and a score 
of other buildings were reported ruined and a number of lives lost. 
During the succeeding week several other shocks of some strength 
were reported from this town. 

Thus the ruinous work of the earthquake stretched over a broad 
track of prosperous, peaceful and happy country, embracing one of 
the best sections of California, laying waste not only the towns in 
its path, but doing much damage to ranch houses and country resi- 
dences. Strange manifestations of nature were reported from the 
interior, where the ground was opened in many places like a 
ploughed field. Great rents in the earth were reported, and for 
many miles north from Los Angeles miniature geysers are said to 
have spouted volcano-like streams of hot mud. 

Railroad tracks in some localities were badly injured, sinking 
or lifting, and being put out of service until repaired. In fact, the 
ruinous effects of the earthquake immensely exceeded those of any 
similar catastrophe ever before known in the United States, 
and when the destruction done by the succeeding conflagration in 
San Francisco is taken into account the California earthquake 
of 1906 takes rank with the most destructive of those recorded in 
history. 



SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 199 

AMERICA TO THE RESCUE. 

We need not go into the details of the prompt and abundant 
measures of reHef which followed the disaster. It must suffice to 
say here that during the first three days after the news had been 
received, the nation had subscribed $5,000,000 for the relief of the 
sufferers, $2,500,000 of this being the contribution of the United 
States government, while supplies of every variety were sent to the 
scene of disaster with the utmost rapidity. The sum named was 
largely increased as the days passed on, and President Roosevelt 
was enabled to decline the generous offers of aid from Canada and 
Europe, which he did with thanks for their messages of sympathy 
and kindly offers. 

EARTH CONVULSIONS OF I902 AND I9O3. 

An extended space has been given here to the description of the 
earthquake disaster at San Francisco, on account of the great size 
and importance of that city and the interest which it naturally 
possesses for the people of this country. But the twentieth century 
has been one of numerous earthquake outbreaks in America, some 
of them very serious in their results, though in most cases of not suffi- 
cient importance to us to warrant more than a brief statement. 

The year 1902 was one of remarkable seismic activity, in vari- 
ous parts of the world, among which especial interest attaches to 
the terrific volcanic explosion of Mount Pelee, in Martinique, with 
the destruction of the city of St. Pierre and its entire population. 
This disaster has been described in detail in a separate chapter and 
needs no further mention here, other than to say that it was attended 
with earthquake shocks which made themselves evident at greac 



200 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

distances. On May 30th there was a severe earthquake, the effects 
of which were felt as far north as New Jersey, and on June 8lh, 
Guatemala, in Central America, was violently shaken, several towns 
being destroyed and more than a thousand people killed. 

Venezuela was sharply shaken on July 9th, many towns being 
damaged, and later in the month there were severe shocks in Cali- 
fornia. On August 30th, during an eruption of Mount Pelee, Vene- 
zuela was again shaken, the earth shocks being accompanied by a 
tremendous noise, heard along the whole shore of the Caribbean Sea, 
and on September 23d, during a violent eruption of Mount Soufriere, 
earthquake shocks of great severity were felt as far apart as Jamaica 
and Ecuador. 

Passing to the following year, 1903, we find it to have been 
one of great earthquake disturbances in many parts of the globe, 
beginning with severe shocks on January 22-27, in the State of 
Chihuahua, Mexico. There were earthquake disturbances in the 
central United States on February 8th, and at Sioux Falls, South 
Dakota, on the 25th, and on March iSth, at the Arrowhead, in the 
Selkirk Range of the Rocky Mountains, Canada, a mountain 
collapsed and fell into a lake, dense clouds of smoke accompanying 
the disaster. A similar occurrence took place April 29th, at Frank, 
Northwest Territory, Canada. Here a mountain of huge size burst 
with terrific force, killing more than a hundred persons and damming 
with its debris a large river to the depth of a hundred feet. In the 
valley around the mountain the earth swayed to and fro and a vast 
crevasse, a mile long and of unknown depth, was opened. With the 
explosion there fell a huge mass of rock, cinders, and dust, which 
buried the houses and their inhabitants to a depth of twenty-five to 
fifty feet, millions of tons of rock being thrown out by the eruptive 
energies. 




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SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 201 

This was volcanic in character, and the year throughout was 
notable for volcanic activity, there being violent eruptions at various 
periods by Mount Stromboli and Vesuvius in the Mediterranean 
region, Mt. Santa Maria, in Guatemala, and Cotopaxi in South 
America, the latter, the highest volcano on the earth, while con- 
stantly steaming and smoking, had been comparatively dormant 
since 1803, but burst into violent eruption in 1903, a century later. 

THE VALPARAISO DISASTER. 

After this date the earth's surface remained comparatively quiet 
until 1906, when began a series of earthquakes of great severity and 
destructiveness, including those of San Francisco and Valparaiso 
in this year and that of Kingston, Jamaica, in January, 1907, and 
ending with the most destructive to human life of all, that of Messina 
in December, 1908. Of these the Valparaiso and Kingston shocks 
call here for some description. 

The cycle opened with a terrific earth shock on March 17, 1906, 
on the island of Formosa, in the China Sea, by which thousands of 
the inhabitants were killed and a property loss resulted, estimated 
at $45,000,000. This was quickly followed by the San Francisco 
disaster, and on August 16-17, by a destructive shock at Valparaiso, 
Chile. This, as in the case of San Francisco, was followed by a 
destructive fire, the property loss being fully $100,000,000. The 
loss of life was also considerable. 

This city and its vicinity have a memorable record in this 
direction, it having been at various times violently shaken. In 1705 
almost the entire city was laid in ruins, and in 1851, four hundred 
houses were destroyed. Santiago, inland from Valparaiso, was 
partly destroyed in 1822, a long portion of the coast of Chile being 



202 SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER EARTHQUAKES 

permanently raised. In 1829 the same city was again shaken, and 
the lifted coast was lowered to several feet below its original level. 

THE KINGSTON EARTHQUAKE. 

The year 1907 opened in this field with a violent earthquake on 
January 14th at Kingston, the capital and chief commercial city of 
the island of Jamaica, which practically destroyed it and killed more 
than a thousand of its people. Kingston is, in a sense, a child of the 
earthquake, owing its existence and importance to the destruction of 
Port Royal, the former capital, by an earthquake in 1692. It stands 
on the north side of a land-locked harbor, for its size one of the best 
in the world, and since 1872 has been the capital of the island. It 
has not been free from former disasters. A violent hurricane visited 
it in 1880, and in December, 1892, it was well-nigh consumed by fire. 
Its third disaster was that of January 14, 1907, above mentioned, 
when the city was shaken to its foundations by severe earth tremors 
and a thousand or more of its inhabitants buried beneath its ruins, 
while many more were injured by the shock. As in all such cases, 
the charity of the world was directed to thi^ centre of disaster, and 
the United States was as usual prompt in sending aid to the 
sufferers. 

THE MONTESSUS RECORD. 

The remaining American earthquake of which we need to speak 
at this point was that of April 15, 1907, which destroyed two cities 
of Mexico, those of Chilpancingo and Chialpi, great loss of life 
attending their overthrow. It is desirable, however, to speak at 
this point of the great catalogue of earthquakes recently completed, 
after years of labor, by Major de Montessus de Balore, which sup- 



5.1.V FKAXCISCO .LV/> OTHEK EAKTHQUAKES 203 

plemenls thai of JNlallcl, nicntioned in another chapter. This em- 
braces no fewer than 130,000 shocks, of which trustworthy details 
have been procured, and indicates with some scientific accuracy how 
these symptoms of seismic activity are distributed over the earth. 
The period of observation includes generally the last fifty years, 
and the most shaken regions of the earth appear to be Italy, Japan, 
Greece, South America (the Pacific Coast), Java, Sicily, and Asia 
Minor. The lands most free from such convulsions are Africa, 
Australia, Russia, Siberia, Scandinavia and Canada. Italy and 
Japan have each experienced more than 27,000 shocks. 

As a rule, w^iere earthquakes are most frequent they are most 
severe, though there are exceptions to this, the comparatively few 
earthquakes in India being often very disastrous. Yet loss of life 
in many cases depends more upon density of population than on the 
intensity of the earth's vibrations. 



•CHAPTER XIX. 

The Volcano and the Earthquake, Earth's 
Demons of Destruction. 

To most of us, dwellers upon the face of the earth, this terres- 
trial sphere is quite a comfortable place of residence. The 
forces of Nature everywhere and at all times surround us, 
forces capable, if loosened from their bonds, of bringing death and 
destruction to man and the work of his hands. But usually they 
are mild and beneficent in their action, not agents of destruction 
and lords of elemental misrule. The air, without whose presence 
we could not survive a minute, is usually a pleasant companion, now 
resting about us in soft calm, now passing by in mild breezes. The 
alternation of summer and winter is to us generally an agreeable 
relief from the monotony of a uniform climate. The variation 
from sunlight to cloud, from dry weather to rainfall, is equally 
viewed as a pleasant escape from the weariness of too great fixity 
of natural conditions. The change from day to night, from hours 
of activity to hours of slumber, are other agreeable variations in the 
events of our daily life. In short, a great pendulum seems to be 
swinging above us, held in Nature's kindly hand, and adapting its 
movements to our best good and highest enjoyment. 

But has Nature, — if we are justified in personifying the laws 
and forces of the universe, — has mother Nature really our pleasure 
and benefit in mind, or does she merely suffer us to enjoy life like 

so many summer insects, until she is in the mood to sweep us like 
204 



EARTH'S DEMONS OF DESTRUCTION 205 

leaves from her path ? It must seem the latter to many of the 
inhabitants of the earth, especially to the dwellers in certain ill- 
conditioned regions. For all the beneficent powers above named 
may at a moment's notice change to destructive ones. 

THE WIND IS A DEMON IN CHAINS 

The wind, for instance, is a demon in chains. At times it 
breaks its fetters and rushes on in mad fury, rending and destroy- 
ing, and sweeping such trifles as cities and those who dwell therein 
to common ruin. Sunshine and rain are subject to like wild 
caprices. The sun may pour down burning rays for weeks and 
months together, scorching the fertile fields, drying up the life- 
giving streams, bringing famine and misery to lands of plenty and 
comfort, almost making the blood to boil in our veins. Its an- 
tithesis, the rainstorm, is at times a still more terrible visitant. From 
the dense clouds pour frightful floods, rushing down the lofty 
hills, sweeping over fertile plains, overflowing broad river valleys, 
and, wherever they go, leaving terror and death in their path. We 
may say the same of the alternation of the seasons. Summer, while 
looked forward to with joyous anticipation, may bring us only suf- 
fering by its too ardent grasp ; and winter, often welcomed with like 
pleasurable anticipations, may prove a period of terror from cold 
and destitution. 

Such is the make-up of the world in which we live, such the 
vagaries of the forces which surround us. But those enumerated 
are not the whole. Can we say, with a stamp of the foot upon the 
solid earth, " Here at least I have something I can trust ; let the 
winds blow and the rains descend, let the summer scorch and the 
winter chill, the good earth still stands firm beneath me, and of it 
at least I am sure?" 



2o6 EARTH'S DEMONS VF DESTRUCTION 

Who says so speaks hastily and heedlessly, for the earth can 
show itself as unstable as the air, and our solid footing become as 
insecure as the deck of a ship laboring in a storm at sea. The 
powers of the atmosphere, great as they are and mighty for destruction 
as they may become, are at times surpassed by those which abide 
within the earth, deep laid in the so-called everlasting rocks, slum- 
bering often through generations, but at any time likely to awaken 
in wrath, to lift the earth into quaking billows like those of the sea, 
or pour forth torrents of liquid fire that flow in glowing and burn- 
ing rivers over leagues of ruined land. Such is the earth with 
which we have to deal, such the ruthless powers of nature that 
spread around us and lurk beneath us, such the terrific forces which 
only bide their time to break forth and sweep too-confident man 
from the earth's smiling face. 

THE SUBTERRANEAN POWERS 

The subterranean powers here spoken of, those we had de- 
nominated earth's demons of destruction, are the volcano and the 
earthquake, the great moulding forces of the earth, tearing down 
to rebuild, rending to reconstitute, and in this elemental work 
often bringing ruin to man's boasted fanes and palaces. 

No one who has ever seen a volcano or " burning mountain " 
casting forth steam, huge red-hot stones, smoke, cinders and lava, 
can possibly forget the grandeur of the spectacle. At night it is 
doubly terrible, when the darkness shows the red-hot lava rolling 
in glowing streams down the mountain's side. At times, indeed, 
the volcano is quiet, and only a little smoke curls from its top. 
Even this may cease, and the once burning summit may be covered 
over with trees and grass, like any other hill. But deep down in the 
earth the gases and pent-up steam, are ever preparing to force their 



EARTH'S DEMONS OF DESTRUCTION 207 

way upward through the mountain, and to carry with them dis- 
solved rocks, and the stones which block their passage. Some- 
times, while all is calm and beautiful on the mountains, suddenly 
deep-sounding noises are heard, the ground shakes, and a vast 
torrent tears its way through the bowels of the volcano, and is 
flung hundreds of feet high in the air, and, falling again to the 
earth, destroys every living thing for miles around. 

It is the same with the earthquake as with the volcano. The 
surface of the earth is never quite still. Tremors are constantly 
passing onward which can be distinguished by delicate instruments, 
but only rarely are these of sufficient force to become noticeable, 
except by instrumental means. At intervals, however, the power 
beneath the surface raises the ground in long, billow-like motions, 
before which, when of violent character, no edifice or human habita- 
tion can for a moment stand. The earth is frequently rent asunder, 
great fissures and cavities being formed. The course of rivers is 
changed and the waters are swallowed up by fissures rent in the 
surface, while ruin impends in a thousand forms. The cities 
become death pits and the cultivated fields are buried beneath 
floods of liquid mud. Fortunately these convulsions, alike of the 
earthquake and volcano, are comparative rarities and are confined 
to limited regions of the earth's surface. What do we know of 
those deep-lying powers, those vast buried forces dwelling in uneasy 
isolation beneath our feet ? With all our science we are but a step 
beyond the ancients, to whom these were the Titans, great rebel 
giants whom Jupiter overthrew and bound under the burning 
mountains, and whose throes of agony shook the earth in quaking 
convulsions. To us the volcanic crater is the mouth from which 
comes the fiery breath of demon powers which dwell far down in 
the earth's crust. The Titans themselves were dwarfs beside these 



2o8 EARTH'S DEMONS OF DESTRUCTION 

mighty agents of destruction whose domain extends for thousands 
of miles beneath the earth's surface and which in their convulsions 
shake whole continents at once. Such was the case in 1812, when 
the eruption of Mont Soufriere on St. Vincent, as told in a later 
chapter, formed merely the closing event in a series of earthquakes 
which had made themselves felt under thousands of miles of land. 

ANCIENT AWE OF VOLCANOES 

In olden times volcanoes were regarded with superstitious awe, 
and it would have been considered highly impious to make any 
investigation of their actions. We are told by Virgil that Mt. Etna 
marks the spot where the gods in their anger buried Enceladus, 
one of the rebellious giants. To our myth-making ancestors one 
of the volcanoes of the Mediterranean, set on a small island of the 
Lipari group, was the workshop of Vulcan, the god of fire, within 
whose depths he forged the thunderbolts of the gods. From below 
came sounds as of a mighty hammer on a vast anvil. Through the 
mountain vent came the black smoke and lurid glow from the fires 
of Vulcan's forge. This old myth is in many respects more con- 
sonant with the facts of nature than myths usually are. In agree- 
ment with the theory of its internal forces, the mountain in question 
was given the name of Volcano. To-day it is scarcely known at 
all, but its name clings to all the fire-breathing mountains of the 
earth. 

As before said, at the present day we are little in advance of 
the ancients in actual knowledge of what is going on so far beneath 
our feet. We speak of forces where they spoke of fettered giants, 
but can only form theories where they formed myths. Is the 
earth's centre made up of liquid fire ? Does its rock crust resemble 
the thick ice crust on the Arctic Seas, or is the earth, as later 



EARTH'S DEMONS OF DESTRUCTION 209 

scientists believe, solid to the core ? Is it heated so fiercely, miles 
below our feet, that at every release of pressure the solid rock 
bursts into molten lava ? Is the steam from the contact of under- 
ground rivers and deep-lying fires the origin of the terrible rending 
powers of the volcano's depths ? Truly we can answer none of these 
questions with assurance, and can only guess and conjecture from 
the few facts open to us what lies concealed far beneath. 

RARITY OF ANCIENT ACCOUNTS 

In the history of earthquakes nothing is more remarkable than 
the extreme fewness of those recorded before the beginning of the 
Christian era, in comparison with those that have been registered 
since that time. It is to be borne in mind, however, that before the 
birth of Christ only a small portion of the globe was inhabited by 
those likely to make a record of natural events. The vast apparent 
increase in the number of earthquakes in recent times is owing to a 
greater knowledge of the earth's surface and to the spread of civil- 
ization over lands once inhabited by savages. The same is to be 
said of volcanic eruptions, which also have apparently increased 
greatly since the beginning of the Christian era. There may possi- 
bly have been a natural increase in these phenomena, but this is 
hardly probable, the change being more likely due to the increase 
in the number of observers. 

The structure of a volcano is very different from that of other 
mountains, really consisting of layers of lava and volcanic ashes, 
alternating with each other and all sloping away from the center. 
These elevations, in fact, are formed in a different manner from 
ordinary mountains. The latter have been uplifted by the influence of 
pressure in the interior of the earth, but the volcano is an immediate 
re#<i It of the explosive force of which we have spoken, the mountain 
14 



1^ 



being gradually built up by the lava and other materials which it 
has flung up from below. In this way mountains of immense 
height and remarkable regularity have been formed. Mount Orizabo, 
near the City of Mexico, for instance, is a remarkably regular cone, 
undoubtedly formed in this way, and the same may be said of Mount 
Mayon, on the Island of Luzon. 

In many cases the irregularity of the volcano is due to subse- 
quent action of its forces, which may blow the mountain itself to 
pieces. In the case of Krakatoa, in the East Indies, for instance, 
the whole mountain was rent into fragments, which were flung as 
dust miles high into the air The main point we wish to indicate 
is that volcanoes are never formed by ordinary elevating forces and 
that they differ in this way from all other mountains. On the con- 
trary, they have been piled up like rubbish heaps, resembling the 
small mountains of coal dust near the mouths of anthracite mines. 

It is to the burning heat of the earth's crust and the influence 
of pressure, and more largely to the influx of water to the molten 
rocks which lie miles below the surface, that these convulsions of 
nature are due. Water, on reaching these overheated strata, explodes 
into volumes of steam, and if there is no free vent to the surface, 
it is apt to rend the very mountain asunder in its efforts to escape. 
Such is supposed to have been the case in the eruption of Krakatoa, 
and was probably the case also in the recent case of Mt. Pelee. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ERUPTIONS 

If we should seek to give a general description of volcanic 
eruptions, it would be in some such words as follows : An eruption 
is usually preceded by earthquakes which affect the whole sur- 
rounding country, and associated with which are underground explo- 
Sfions that seem like the sound of distant artillery. The mountain 



EARTH'S DEMONS OF DESTRUCTION 21 r 

quivers with internal convulsions, due to the efforts of its confined 
i'orces to find an c/pening. The drying up of wells and disappear- 
ance of springs are apt to take place, the water sinking downward 
*hrough cracks newly made in the rocks. Finally the fierce un- 
chained energy rends an opening through the crater and an eruption 
begins. It comes usually with a terrible burst that shakes the 
mountain to its foundation ; explosions following rapidly and with 
increasing violence, while steam issues and mounts upward in a lofty 
column. The steam and escaping gases in their fierce outbreaks hurl 
up into the air great quantities of solid rock torn from the sides of 
the opening. The huge blocks, meeting each other in their rise 
and fall, are gradually broken and ground into minute fragments, 
forming dust or so-called ashes, often of extreme fineness, and in 
such quantities as frequently to blot out the light of the sun. There 
is another way in which a great deal of volcanic dust is made ; the 
lava is full of steam, which in its expansion tears the molten rock 
into atoms, often converting it into the finest dust. 

The eruption of Mt. Skaptar, in Iceland, in 1783, sent up such 
volumes of dust that the atmosphere was loaded with it for months, 
and it was carried to the northern part of Scotland, 600 miles away, 
in such quantities as to destroy the crops. During the eruption of 
Tomboro, in the East Indies, in 181 5, so great was the quantity of 
dust thrown up that it caused darkness at midday in Java 300 miles 
away and covered the ground to a depth of several inches. Float- 
ing pumice formed a layer on the ocean surface two and a half feet 
in thickness, through which vessels had difficulty in forcing their way. 

The steam which rises in large volumes into the air may be- 
come suddenly condensed with the chill of the upper atmosphere 
and fall as rain, torrents of which often follow an eruption. The 
rain, falling through the clouds of volcanic dust, brings it to the 



212 EARTH'S DEMONS OF DESTRUCTION 

earth as liquid mud, which pours in thick streams down the sides of 
the mountain. The torrents of flowing mud are sometimes on such 
a great scale that large towns, as in the instance of the great city 
of Herculaneum, may be completely buried beneath them. Over 
this city the mud accumulated to the depth of over 70 feet. In 
addition to these phenomena, molten lava often flows from the lip of 
the crater, occasionally in vast quantities. In the Icelandic erup- 
tion of 1783 the lava streams were so great in quantity as to fill 
river gorges 600 ft. deep and 200 ft. wide, and to extend over an 
open plain to a distance of 12 to 15 miles, forming lakes of 
lava 100 feet deep. The volcanoes of Hawaii often send forth 
streams of lava which cover an area of over 100 square miles to 
a great depth. 

GREAT OUTFLOWS OF LAVA 

In the course of ages lava outflows of this kind have built up 
in Hawaii a volcanic mountain estimated to contain enough material 
to cover the whole of the United States with a layer of rock 50 feet 
deep. These great outflows of lava are not confined to mountains, 
but take place now and then from openings in the ground, or from 
long cracks in the surface rocks. Occasionally great eruptions 
have taken place beneath the ocean's surface, throwing up material 
in sufficient quantity to form new islands. 

The formation of mud is not confined to the method given, but 
great quantities of this plastic material flow at times from volcanic 
craters. In the year 1691 Imbaburu', one of the peaks of the Andes, 
sent out floods of mud which contained dead fish in such abund- 
ance that their decay caused a fever in the vicinity. The volcanoes 
of Java have often buried large tracts of fertile country under 
volcanic mud. 



EARTH'S DRMONS OF DESTRUCTION 213 

An observation of volcanoes shows us that they have three 
well marked phases of action. The first of these is the state of 
permanent eruption, as in case of the volcano of Stromboli in the 
Mediterranean. This state is not a dangerous one, since the steam, 
escaping- continually, acts as a safety valve. The second stage is 
one of milder activity with an occasional somewhat violent erup- 
tion ; this is apt to be dangerous, though not often very greatly so. 
The safety valve is partly out of order. The third phase is one in 
which long periods of repose, sometimes lasting for centuries, are 
followed by eruptions of intense energy. These are often of 
extreme violence and cause widespread destruction. In this case 
the safety valve has failed to work and the boiler bursts. 

OFTEN REST FOR LONG TERMS OF YEARS 

Such are the general features of action in the vast powers 
which dwell deep beneath the surface, harmless in most parts of the 
earth, frightfully perilous in others. Yet even here they often rest 
for long terms of years in seeming apathy, until men gather above 
their lurking places in multitudes, heedless or ignorant of the 
sleeping demons that bide their time below. Their time is sure to 
come, after years, perhaps after centuries. Suddenly the solid earth 
begins to tremble and quake ; roars as of one of the buried giants 
of old strike all men with dread ; then, with a fierce convulsion, a 
mountain is rent in twain and vast torrents of steam, burning rock, 
and blinding dust are hurled far upward into the air, to fall again 
and bury cities, perhaps, with all their inhabitants in indiscriminate 
ruin and death. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Theories of Volcanic and Earthquake Action. 

THOUGH the first formation of a volcano (Italian, vulcano, 
from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire) has seldom been wit- 
nessed, It would seem that it is marked by earthquake move- 
ments followed by the opening of a rent or fissure ; but with no 
such tilting up of the rocks as was once supposed to take place. 
From this fissure large volumes of steam issue, accompanied by 
hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and sulphur 
dioxide. The hydrogen, apparently derived from the dissociation 
of water at a high temperature, flashes* explosively into union with 
atmospheric oxygen, and, having exerted its explosive force, the 
steam condenses into cloud, heavy masses of which overhang the 
volcano, pouring down copious rains. This naturally disturbs the 
electrical condition of the atmosphere, so that thunder and lightning 
are frequent accompaniments of an eruption. The hydrochloric 
acid probably points to the agency of sea-water. Besides the gases 
just mentioned, sulphuretted hydrogen, ammonia and common salt 
occur ; but mainly as secondary products, formed by the union of 
the vapors issuing from the volcano, and commonly found also in 
the vapors rising from cooling lava streams or dormant volcanic 
districts. It is important to notice that the vapors issue from the 
volcano spasmodically, explosions succeeding each other with great 
rapidity and noise. 

All substances thrown out by the volcano, whether gaseous, 

liquid or solid, are conveniently united under the term ejectamenUt 

(214) 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACL ION 215 

(Latin, things thrown out), and all of them are in an intensely 
heated, if not an incandescent state. Most of the gases are incom- 
bustible, but the hydrogen and those containing sulphur burn with 
a true flame, perhaps rendered more visible by the presence of solid 
particles. Much of the so-called flame, however, in popular descrip- 
tions of eruptions is an error of observation due to the red-hot 
solid particles and the reflection of the glowing orifice on the over- 
hanging clouds. 

ENORMOUS FORCE DISPLAYED 

Solid bodies are thrown into the air with enormous force and 
to proportionally great heights, those not projected vertically fall- 
ing in consequence at considerable distances from the volcano. A 
block weighing 200 tons is said to have been thrown nine miles by 
Cotopaxi ; masses of rock weighing as much as twenty tons to 
have been ejected by Mount Ararat in 1840; and stones to have 
been hurled to a distance of thirty-six miles in other cases The 
solid matter thrown out by volcanoes consists of lapilli, scorics, 
dust and bombs. 

Though on the first formation of the volcano, masses of non- 
volcanic rock maybe torn from the chimney or pipe of the mountain, 
only slightly fused externally owing to the bad conducting power 
of most rocks, and hurled to a distance ; and though at the begin- 
ning of a subsequent eruption the solid plug of rock which has 
cooled at the bottom of the crater, or, in fact, any part of the 
volcano, may be similarly blown up, the bulk of the solid particles 
of which the volcano itself is composed is derived from the lake of 
lava or molten rock which seethes at the orifice. Solid pieces rent 
from this fused mass and cast up by the explosive force of the 
steam with which the lava is satir ited are known as lapilli. Cooling 



2 1 6 VOL CANIC AND EAR THQ UAKE A CTION 

rapidly so as to be glassy in texture externally, these often 
have time to become perfectly crystalline within. 

Gases and steam escaping from other similar masses may leave 
them hollow, when they are termed bombs, or may pit their sur- 
faces with irregular bubble-cavities, when they are called scorice or 
scoriaceous. Such masses whirling through the air in a plastic 
state often become more or less oblately spheroidal in form ; but, 
as often, the explosive force of their contained vapors shatters 
them into fragments, producing quantities of the finest volcanic 
dust or sand. This fine dust darkens the clouds overhanging the 
mountain, mixes with the condensed steam to fall as a black mud- 
rain, or lava di aqua (Italian, water lava), or is carried up to enor- 
mous heights, and then slowly diffused by upper currents of the 
atmosphere. In the eruption of Vesuvius of a.d. 79, the air was 
dark as midnight for twelve or fifteen miles round ; the city of 
Pompeii was buried beneath a deposit of dry scorice, or ashes and 
dust, and Herculaneum beneath a layer of the mud-like lava di 
aqua, which on drying sets into a compact rock. Rocks formed 
from these fragmentary volcanic materials are known as tuff. 

VOLCANIC CONES HAVE SIMILAR CURVATURES 

It is entirely of these cindery fragments heaped up with mar- 
vellous rapidity round the orifice that the volcano itself is first 
formed. It may, as in the case of Jorullo in Mexico in 1759, form 
a cone several hundred feet high in less than a day. Such a cone 
may have a slope as steep as 30° or 40°, its incline in all cases 
depending simply on the angle of repose of its materials, the 
inclination, that is, at which they stop rolling. The great volcanoes 
of the Andes, which are formed mainly of ash, are very steep. 
Owing to a general similarity in their materials, volcanic cones in 




Copyright, 1906, by Judge Publishing Co. 

FIRE RAVAGING MARKET STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, IN 1906. 
The principal street of San Francisco's business centre. It was one of the first 
quarters to be devastated by the flames. House after house succumbed, 
but the lofty "Call" or Spreckles building remained standing. 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 217 

all parts of the world have very similar curvatures ; but older 
volcanic mountains, in which lava-streams have broken through the 
cone, secondary cones have arisen, or portions have been blown 
up, are more irregular in outline and more gradual in inclination. 

In size, volcanoes vary from mere mounds a few yards in 
diameter, such as the salses or 7niid volcanoes near the Caspian, to 
Etna, 10,800 feet high, with a base 30 miles in diameter ; Cotopaxi, 
in the Andes, 18,887 ^^^^ high; or Mauna Loa, in the Sandwich 
Isles, 13,700 feet high, with a base 70 miles in diameter, and two 
craters, one of which, Kilauea, the largest active crater on our 
earth, is seven miles in circuit. Larger extinct craters occur in 
Japan ; but all our terrestrial volcanic mountains are dwarfed by 
those observed on the surface of the moon, which, owing to its 
smaller size, has cooled more rapidly than our earth. It is, of 
course, the explosive force from below which keeps the crater 
clear, as a cup-shaped hollow, truncating the cone ; and all stones 
falling into it would be only thrown out again. It may at the close 
of an eruption cool down so completely that a lake can form 
within it, such as Lake Averno, near Naples ; or it may long 
remain a seething sea of lava, such as Kilauea ; or the lava may 
find one or more outlets from it, either by welling over its rim, 
which it will then generally break down, as in many of the small 
extinct volcanoes ("puys") of Auvergne, or more usually by burst- 
ing through the sides of the cone. 

LAVA VARIES VERY MUCH IN LIQUIDITY 

It is not generally until the volcano has exhausted its first 
explosive force that lava begins to issue. Several streams may 
issue in different directions. Their dimensions are sometimes enor- 
mous. Lava varies very much in liquidity and in the rate at which 




2l8 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 219 

it flows. This much depends, however, upon the slope it has to 
traverse. A lava stream at Vesuvius ran three miles in four 
minutes, but took three hours to flow the next three miles, while 
a stream from Mauna Loa ran eighteen miles in two hours. Glow- 
ing at first as a white-hot liquid, the lava soon cools at the surface 
to red and then to black ; cinder-like scoriaceous masses form on 
its surface and in front of the slowly-advancing mass ; clouds of 
steam and other vapor rise from it, and little cones are thrown up 
from its surface ; but many years may elapse before the mass is 
cooled through. Thus, while the surface is glassy, the interior 
becomes crystalline. 

As to what are the causes of the great convulsions of nature 
known as the volcano and the earthquake we know very little. 
Various theories have been advanced, but nothing by any means 
sure has been discovered- and considerable difference of opinion 
exists. In truth we know so little concerning the conditions exist- 
ing in the earth's interior that any views concerning the forces at 
work there must necessarily be largely conjectural. 

Sir Robert S. Ball says, in this connection : " Let us take, for 
instance, that primary question in terrestrial physics, as to whether 
the interior of the earth is liquid or solid. If we were to judge 
merely from the temperatures reasonably believed to exist at a 
depth of some twenty miles, and if we might overlook the question 
of pressure, we should certainly say that the earth's interior must 
be in a fluid state. It seems at least certain that the temperatures 
to be found at depths of two score miles, and still more at greater 
depths, must be so high that the most refractory solids, whether 
metals or minerals, would at once yield if we could subject them to 
such temperatures in our laboratories. But none of our laboratory 
experiments can tell us whether, under the pressure of thousands 



220 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

of tons on the square inch, the application of any heat whatever 
would be adequate to transform solids into liquids. It may, indeed, 
be reasonably doubted whether the terms solid and liquid are 
applicable, in the sense in which we understand them, to the 
materials forming the interior of the earth. 

" A principle, already well known in the arts, is that many, if 
not all, solids may be made to flow like liquids if only adequate 
pressure be applied. The making of lead tubes is a well-known 
practical illustration of this principle, for these tubes are formed 
simply by forcing solid lead by the hydraulic press through a mould 
which imparts the desired shape. 

" If then a solid can be made to behave like a liquid, even 
with such pressures as are within our control, how are we to sup- 
pose that the solids would behave with such pressures as those to 
which they are subjected in the interior of the earth ? The fact is 
that the terms solid and liquid, at least as we understand them, 
appear to have no physical meaning with regard to bodies sub- 
jected to these stupendous pressures, and this must be carefully 
borne in mind when we are discussing the nature of the interior of 
the earth." 

THE VOLCANOE A SAFETY VALVE 

Whatever be the state of affairs in the depths of the earth's 
crust, we may look upon the volcano as a sort of safety-valve, open- 
ing a passage for the pent-up forces to the surface, and thus reliev- 
ing the earth from the terrible effects of the earthquake, through 
which these imprisoned powers so often make themselves felt. 
Without the volcanic vent there might be no safety for man on the 
earth's unquiet face. 

Professor J. C. Russell, of Michigan University, presents the 
following views concerning the status and action of volcanoes : — 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 221 

" When reduced to its simplest terms, a volcano may be defined 
as a tube, or conduit, in the earth's crust, through which the molten 
rock is forced to the surface. The conduit penetrates the cool and 
rigid rocks forming the superficial portion of the earth, and reaches 
its highly heated interior. 

" The length of volcanic conduits can only be conjectured, but, 
judging from the approximately known rate of increase of heat 
with depth (on an average one degree Fahrenheit for each sixty 
feet), and the temperature at which volcanic rocks melt (from 2,300 
to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit, when not under pressure), they must 
seemingly have a depth of at least twenty miles. There are other 
factors to be considered, but in general terms it is safe to assume 
that the conduits of volcanoes are irregular openings, many miles 
in depth, which furnish passageways for molten rock (lava) from 
the highly-heated sub-crust portion of the earth to its surface* . . . 

ERUPTIONS OF QUIET TYPE 

" During eruptions of the quiet type, the lava comes to the 
surface in a highly liquid condition — that is, it is thoroughly fused, 
and flows with almost the freedom of water. It spreads widely, 
even on a nearly level plain, and may form a comparatively thin 
sheet several hundred square miles in area, as has been observed in 
Iceland and Hawaii. On the Snake River plains, in Southern Idaho, 
there are sheets of once molten rock which were poured out in the 
manner just stated, some four hundred square miles in area and not 
over seventy-five feet in average thickness. When an eruption of 
highly liquid lava occurs in a mountainous region, the molten rock 
may cascade down deep slopes and flow through narrow valleys for 
fifty miles or more before becoming chilled sufficiently to arrest its 
progress. Instances are abundant where quiet eruptions have 



222 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

occurred in the midst of a plain, and built up 'lava cones,' or low 
mounds, with immensely expanded bases. Illustrations are fur- 
nished in Southern Idaho, in which the cones formed are only three 
hundred or four hundred feet high, but have a breadth at the base 
of eight or ten miles. In the class of eruption illustrated by these 
examples, there is an absence of fragmental material, such as 
explosive volcanoes hurl into the air, and a person may stand within, 
a few yards of a rushing stream of molten rock, or examine closely 
the opening from which it is being poured out, without danger or 
serious inconvenience. 

** The quiet volcanic eruptions are attended by the escape of 
steam or gases from the molten rock, but the lava being in a highly 
liquid state, the steam and gases dissolved in it escape quietly and 
without explosions. If, however, the molten rock is less com- 
pletely fluid, or in a viscous condition, the vapors and gases con- 
tained in it find difficulty in escaping, and may be retained until, 
becoming concentrated in large volume, they break their way to 
the surface, producing violent explosions. Volcanoes in which the 
lava extruded is viscous, and the escape of steam and gases is 
retarded until the pent-up energy bursts all bounds, are of the 
explosive type. One characteristic example is Vesuvius, 

" When steam escapes from the summit of a volcanic conduit — 
which, in plain terms, is a tall vessel filled with intensely hot and 
more or less viscous liquid — masses of the liquid rock are blown 
into the air, and on falling build up a rim or crater about the place 
of discharge. Commonly the lava in the summit portion of a con- 
duit becomes chilled and perhaps hardened, and when a steam 
explosion occurs this crust is shattered and the fragments hurled 
into the air and contributed to the building of the walls of the 
inclosing crater. 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACFION 223 

" The solid rock blown out by volcanoes consists usually of 
highly vesicular material which hardened on the surface of the 
column of lava within a conduit and was shattered by explosions 
beneath it. These fragments vary in size from dust particles up to 
masses several feet in diameter, and during violent eruptions are 
hurled miles high. The larger fragments commonly fall near their 
place of origin, and usually furnish the principal part of the material 
of which craters are built, but the gravel-like kernels, lapilli, may 
be carried laterally several miles if a wind is blowing, while the dust 
is frequently showered down on thousands of square miles of land 
and sea. The solid and usually angular fragments manufactured 
in this manner vary in temperature, and may still be red hot on 
falling. 

" Volcanoes of the explosive type not uncommonly discharge 
streams of lava, which may flow many miles. In certain instances 
these outwellings of liquid rock occur after severe earthquakes and 
violent explosions, and may have all the characteristics of quiet 
eruptions. There is thus no fundamental difference between the 
two types into which it is convenient to divide volcanoes. 

MOUNTAINS BLOW THEIR HEADS OFF 

"In extreme examples of explosive volcanoes, the summit por 
tion of a crater, perhaps several miles in circumference and several 
thousand feet high, is blown away. Such an occurrence is recorded 
in the case of the volcano Coseguina, Nicaragua, in 1835. Or, an 
entire mountain may disappear, being reduced to lapilli and dust 
and blown into the air, as in the case of Krakatoa, in the Straits of 
Sunda, in 1883. 

" The essential feature of a volcano, as stated above, is a tube 
or conduit, leading from the highly heated sub-crust portion of the 



224 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

earth to the crater and through which molten rock is forced upward 
to the surface. The most marked variations in the process depend 
on the quantity of molten rock extruded, and on the freedom of 
escape of the steam and gases contained in the lava. 

" The cause of the rise of the molten rock in a volcano is still 
a matter for discussion. Certain geologists contend that steam is 
the sole motive power ; while others consider that the lava is forces 
to the surface owing to pressure on the reservoir from which it 
comes. The view perhaps most favorably entertained at present, 
in reference to the general nature of volcanic eruptions, is that the 
rigid outer portion of the earth becomes fractured, owing principally 
to movements resulting from the shrinking of the cooling inner 
mass, and that the intensely hot material reached by the fissures, 
previously solid owing to pressure, becomes liquid when pressure 
is relieved, and is forced to the surface. As the molten material 
rises it invades the water-charged rocks near the surface and acquires 
steam, or the gases resulting from the decomposition of water, and 
a new force is added which produces the most conspicuous and at 
times the most terrible phenomena accompanying eruptions." 

The active agency of water is strongly maintained by many 
geologists, and certainly gains support from the vast clouds of steam 
given off by volcanoes in eruption and the steady and quiet 
emission of steam from many in a state of rest. The quantities of 
water in the liquid state, to which is due the frequent enormous 
outflows of mud, leads to the same conclusion. Many scientists, 
indeed, while admitting the agency of water, look upon this as the 
aqueous material originally pent up within the rocks. For instance 
Professor Shaler, dean of the Lawrence Scientific School, says : 

" Volcanic outbreaks are merely the explosion of steam under 
high pressure, steam which is bound in rocks buried underneath 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 225 

the surface of the earth and there subjected to such tremendous 
heat that when the conditions are right its pent-up energy breaks 
forth and it shatters its stone prison walls into dust. The process 
by which the water becomes buried in this manner is a long one. 
Some contend that it leaks down from the surface of the earth 
through fissures in the outer crust, but this theory is not generally 
accepted. The common belief is that water enters the rocks dur- 
ing the crystalization period, and that these rocks through the 
natural action of rivers and streams become deposited in the bottom 
of the ocean. Here they lie for many ages, becoming buried 
deeper and deeper under masses of like sediment, which are con- 
stantly being washed down upon them from above. This process 
is called the blanketing process. 

" Each additional layer of sediment, while not raising the level 
ot the sea bottom, buries the first layers just so much the deeper 
and adds to their temperature just as does the laying of extra 
blankets on a bed. When the first layer has reached a depth of a 
few thousand feet the rocks which contain the water of crystaliza- 
tion are subjected to a terrific heat. This heat generates steam, 
which is held in a state of frightful tension in its rocky prison. 
Wrinklings in the outer crust of the earth's surface occur, caused 
by the constant shrinking of the earth itself and by the contraction 
of the outer surface as it settles on the plastic centers underneath. 
Fissures are caused by these foldings, and as these fissures reach 
down into the earth the pressure is removed from the rocks and 
the compressed steam in them, being released, explodes with tre- 
mendous force." 

This view is, very probably, applicable to many cases, and the 
exceedingly fine dust which so often rises from volcanoes has, 
doubtless, for one of its causes the sudden and explosive conversion 
15 



?26 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

of water into steam in the interior of ejected lava, thus rending 
it into innumerable fragments. But that this is the sole mode 
of action of water in volcanic eruptions is very questionable. It 
certainly does not agree with the immense volumes at times thrown 
out, while explosions of such extreme intensity as that of Krakatoa 
very strongly lead to the conclusion that a great mass of water has 
made its way through newly opened fissures to the level of molten 
rock, and exploded into steam with a suddenness which gave it the 
rending force of dynamite or the other powerful chemical explosives. 
As the earthquake is so intimately associated with the volcano 
the causes of the latter are in great measure the causes of the 
former, and the forces at work frequently produce a more or less 
violent quaking of the earth's surface before they succeed in open- 
ing a channel of escape through the mountain's heart. One agency 
of great potency, and one whose work never ceases, has doubtless 
much to do with earthquake action. In the description of this we 
cannot do better than to quote from "The Earth's Beginning" of 
Sir Robert S. Ball. 

CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES 

"As to the immediate cause of earthquakes there is no doubt 
considerable difference of opinion. But I think it will not be 
doubted that an earthquake is one of the consequences, though 
perhaps a remote one, of the gradual loss of internal heat from 
the earth. As this terrestrial heat is gradually declining, it follows 
from the law that we have already so often had occasion to use 
that the bulk of the earth must be shrinking. No doubt the dimi- 
nution in the earth's diameter due to the loss of heat must be 
exceedingly small, even in a long period of time. The cause, how-! 
ever, is continually in operation, and, accordingly, the crust of the 
earth has from time to time to be accommodated to the fact that 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 



227 



the whole globe is lessening-. The circumference of our earth at 
the equator must be gradually declining ; a certain length in that 
circumference is lost each year. We may admit that loss to be a 
quantity far too small to be measured by any observations as yet 
obtainable, but, nevertheless, it is productive of phenomena so im- 
portant that it cannot be overlooked. 

" It follows from these considerations that the rocks which 
form the earth's crust over the surface of the continents and the 




EARTHQUAKE AT MESSINA, 1783. 



islands, or beneath the bed of the ocean, must have a lessening acre- 
age year by year. These rocks must therefore submit to compression, 
either continuously or from time tc time, and the necessary yield- 
ing of the rocks will in general take place in those regions where 
the materials of the earth's crust happen to have comparatively 
small powers of resistance. The acts of compression will often. 



228 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

and perhaps generally, not proceed with uniformity, but rathei 
with small successive shifts, and even though the displacements of 
the rocks in these shifts be actually very small, yet the pressures to 
which the rocks are subjected are so vast that a very small shift 
may correspond to a very great terrestrial disturbance. 

" Suppose, for instance, that there is a slight shift in the rocks 
on each side of a crack, or fault, at a depth of ten miles. It must 
be remembered that the pressure ten miles down would be about 
thirty-five tons to the square inch. Even a slight displacement of 
one extensive surface over another, the sides being pressed together 
with a force of thirty-five tons on the square inch, would be an 
operation necessarily accompanied by violence greatly exceeding 
that which we might expect from so small a displacement if the 
forces concerned had been of more ordinary magnitude. On 
account of this great multiplication of the intensity of the phe- 
nomenon, merely a small rearrangement of the rocks in the crust 
of the earth, in pursuance of the necessary work of accommodat- 
ing its volume to the perpetual shrinkage, might produce an 
excessively violent shock, extending far and wide. The effect of 
such a shock would be propagated in the form of waves through 
the globe, just as a violent blow given at one end of a bar of iron 
by a hammer is propagated through the bar in the form of waves. 
When the effect of this internal adjustment reaches the earth's 
surface it will sometimes be great enough to be perceptible in the 
shaking it gives that surface. The shaking may be so violent that 
buildings may not be able to withstand it. Such is the phenome- 
non of an earthquake. 

" When the earth is shaken by one of those occasional adjust- 
ments of the crust which I have described, the wave that spreads 
like a pulsation from the centre of agitation extends all over our 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 229 

globe and is transmitted right through it. At the surface lying 
immediately over the centre of disturbance there will be a violent 
shock. In the surrounding country, and often over great distances, 
the earthquake may also be powerful enough to produce destruc- 
tive effects. The convulsion may also be manifested over a far 
larger area of country in a way which makes the shock to be felt, 
though the damage wrought may not be appreciable. But beyond 
a limited distance from the centre of the agitation the earthquake 
will produce no destructive effects upon buildings, and will not 
even cause vibrations that would be appreciable to ordinary obser- 
vation. 

THE RADIUS OF DISTURBANCE. 

*' In each locality in which earthquakes are chronic it would 
seem as if there must be a particularly weak spot in the earth 
some miles below the surface. A shrinkage of the earth, in the 
course of the incessant adjustment between the interior and the 
exterior, will take place by occasional little jumps at this particular 
centre. The fact that there is this weak spot at which small adjust- 
ments are possible may provide, as it were, a safety-valve for other 
places in the same part of the world. Instead of a general shrink- 
ing, the materials would be sufficiently elastic and flexible to allow 
the shrinking for a very large area to be done at this particular 
locality. In this way we may explain the fact that immense tracts 
on the earth are practically free from earthquakes of a serious char- 
acter, while in the less fortunate regions the earthquakes are more 
or less perennial. 

** Now, suppose an earthquake takes place in Japan, it origi- 
nates a series of vibrations through our globe. We must here dis- 
tinguish between the rocks — I might almost say the comparatively 
pliant rocks — which form the earth's crust, and those which form 



230 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

the intensely rigid core of the interior of our globe. The vibrations 
which carry the tidings of the earthquake spread through the rocks 
on the surface, from the centre of the disturbance, in gradually 
enlarging circles. We may liken the spread of these vibrations to 
the ripples in a pool of water which diverge from the spot where a 
raindrop has fallen. The vibrations transmitted by the rocks on 
the surface, or on the floor of the ocean, will carry the message all 
over the earth. As these rocks are flexible, at all events by com- 
parison with the earth's interior, the vibrations will be correspond- 
ingly large, and will travel with vigor over land and under sea. In 
due time they reach, say the Isle of Wight, where they set the 
pencil of the seismometer at work. But there are different ways 
round the earth from Japan to the Isle of Wight, the most direct 
route being across Asia and Europe ; the other route across the 
Pacific, America, and the Atlantic. The vibrations will travel by 
both routes, and the former is the shorter of the two." 

TRANSMISSIONS OF VIBRATIONS 

Some brief repetition may not here be amiss as to the pro- 
ducts of volcanic action, of which so much has been said in the 
preceding pages, especially as many of the terms are to some extent 
technical in character. The most abundant of these substances is 
steam or water-gas, which, as we have seen, issues in prodigious 
quantities during every eruption. But with the steam a great num- 
\^r of other volatile materials frequently make their appearance. 
Though we have named a number of these at the beginning of 
this chapter, it will not be out of order to repeat them here. 
The chief among these are the acid gases known as hydrochloric 
acid, sulphurous acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, carbonic acid, and 
boracic acid ; and with these acid gases there issue hydrogen, nitrogen 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 231 

ammonia, the volatile metals arsenic, antimony, and mercury, 
and some other substances. These volatile substances react upon 
one another, and many new compounds are thus formed. By the 
action of sulphurous acid and sulphuretted hydrogen on each other, 
the sulphur so common in volcanic districts is separated and 
deposited. The hydrochloric acid acts very energetically on the' 
rocks around the vents, uniting with the iron in them to form the 
yellow ferric-chloride, which often coats the rocks round the vent 
and is usually mistaken by casual observers for sulphur. 

Some of the substances emitted by volcanic vents, such as 
hydrogen and sulphuretted hydrogen, are inflammable, and when 
they issue at a high temperature these gases burst into flame the 
moment that they come into contact with the air. Hence, when 
volcanic fissures are watched at night, faint lambent flames are fre- 
quently seen playing over them, and sometimes these flames are 
brilliantly colored, through the presence of small quantities of cer- 
tain metallic oxides. Such volcanic flames, however, are scarcely 
ever strongly luminous, and the red, glowing light which is observed 
over volcanic mountains in eruption is due to quite another cause. 
What is usually taken for flame during a volcanic eruption is simply, 
as we have before stated, the glowing light of the surface of a mass 
of red-hot lava reflected from the cloud of vapor and dust in the 
air, much as the lights of a city are reflected from the water vapor 
of the atmosphere during a night of fog. 

Besides the volatile substances which issue from volcanic vents, 
mingling with the atmosphere or condensing upon their sides, there 
are many solid materials ejected, and these may accumulate around 
the orifices till they build up mountains of vast dimensions, like 
Etna, Teneriffe, and Chimborazo. Some of these solid materials 
are evidently fragments of the rock-masses, through which the 



232 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

volcanic fissure has been rent ; these fragments have been carried 
upwards by the force of the steam-blast and scattered over the 
sides of the volcano. But the principal portion of the solid mater- 
ials ejected from volcanic orifices consists of matter which has been 
extruded from sources far beneath the surface, in highly-heated and 
fluid or semi-fluid condition. 

It is to these materials that the name of *' lavas" is properly 
applied. Lavas present a general resemblance to the slags and 
clinkers which are formed in our furnaces and brick-kilns, and con- 
sist, like them, of various stony substances which have been more 
or less perfectly fused. When we come to study the chemical com- 
position and the microscopical structure of lavas, however, we 
shall find that there are many respects in which they differ entirely 
from these artificial products, they consisting chiefly of felspar, or 
of this substance in association with augite or hornblende. In tex- 
ture they may be stony, p-lassy, resin-like, vesicular or cellular and 
light in weight, as in the case of pumice or scoria. 

FLOATING PUMICE 

The steam and other gases rising through liquid lava are apt to 
produce bubbles, yielding a surface froth or foam. This froth varies 
greatly in character according to the nature of the material from 
which it is formed. In the majority of cases the lavas consist of a 
mass of crystals floating in a liquid magma, and the distension of 
such a mass by the escape of steam from its midst gives rise to the 
formation of the rough cindery-looking material to which the name 
of " scoria " is applied. But when the lava contains no ready- 
formed crystals, but consists entirely of a glassy substance in a 
more or less perfect state of fusion, the liberation of steam gives 
rise to the formation of the beautiful material known as " pumice." 



VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 233 

Pumice consists of a mass of minute glass bubbles ; these bubbles 
do not usually, however, retain their globular form, but are elon- 
ofated in one direction throuofh the movement of the mass while it 
is still in a plastic state. The quantity of this substance ejected is 
often enormous. We have seen to what a vast extent it was 
thrown out from the crater of Krakatoa. During the year 1878, 
masses of floating pumice were reported as existing in the vicinity 
of the Solomon Isles, and covering the surface of the sea to such 
extent that it took ships three days to force their way through 
them. Sometimes this substance accumulates in such quanti- 
ties along coasts that it is difftcult to determine the position 
of the shore within a mile or two, as we may land and walk about 
on the great floating raft of pumice. Recent deep-sea soundings, 
carried on in the Challenger and other vessels, have shown that 
the bottom of the deepest portion of the ocean, far away from the 
land, is covered with volcanic materials which have been carried 
through the air or have floated on the surface of the ocean. 

Fragments of scoria or pumice may be thrown hundreds or 
thousands of feet into the atmosphere, those that fall into the crater 
and are flung up again being gradually reduced in size by friction. 
Thus it is related by Mr. Poulett Scrope, who watched the Vesu- 
vian eruption of 1822, which lasted for nearly a month, that during 
the earlier stages of the outburst fragments of enormous size were 
thrown out of the crater, but by constant re-ejection these were gra- 
dually reduced in size, till at last only the most impalpable dust 
issued from the vent. This dust filled the atmosphere, producing 
in the city of Naples " a darkness that might be felt." So exces- 
sively finely divided was it, that it penetrated into all drawers, 
boxes, and the most closely fastened receptacles, filling them com- 
pletely The fragmentary materials ejected from volcanoes are 



234 VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE ACTION 

often given the name of cinders or ashes. These, however, are terms 
of convenience only, and do not properly describe the volcanic mate^ 
rial 

Sometimes the passages of steam through a mass of molten glass 
produces large quantities of a material resembling spun glass. 
Small particles of this glass are carried into the air and leave 
behind them thin, glassy filaments like a tail At the volcano of 
Kilauea in Hawaii, this substance, as previously stated, is abundantly 
produced, and is known as *Pele's Hair' — Pele being the name of 
the goddess of the mountain, Birds' nests are sometimes found 
composed of this beautiful material. In recent years an artificial 
substance similar to this Pele's hair has been extensively manufac- 
tured by passing jets of steam through the molten slag of iron- 
furnaces ; it resembles cotton-wool, but is made up of fine threads 
of glass, and is employed for the packing of boilers and other 
purposes. 

The lava itself, as left in huge deposits upon the surface, 
assum.es various forms, some crystalline, others glassy. The latter 
is usually found in the condition known as obsidian, ordinarily black 
in color, and containing few or no crystals. It is brittle, and splits 
into sharp-edged or pointed fragments, which were used by primi- 
tive peoples for arrow-heads, knives and other cutting implements. 
The ancient Mexicans used bits of it for shaving purposes, it having 
an edge of razor-like sharpness. They also used it as the cutting 
part of their weapons of war. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Active Volcanoes of the Earth. 

IT is not by any means an easy task to frame an estimate of the 
number of volcanoes in the world. Volcanoes vary greatly in 
their dimensions, from vast mountain masses, rising to a height 
of nearly 25,000 feet above sea-level, to mere molehills. They 
likewise exhibit every possible stage of development and decay; 
while some are in a state of chronic active eruption, others are 
reduced to the condition of solfataras, or vents emitting acid vapors, 
and others again have fallen into a more or less complete state of 
ruin through the action of denuding forces, 

NUMBER OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES 

Even if we confine our attention to the larger volcanoes, which 
merit the name of mountains, and such of these as we have reason 
to believe to be in a still active condition, our difficulties will be 
diminished, but not by any means removed. Volcanoes may sink 
into a dormant condition that at times endures for hundreds or 
even thousands of years, and then burst forth into a state of re- 
newed activity ; and it is quite impossible, in many cases, to distin- 
guish between the conditions of dormancy and extinction. 

We shall, however, probably be within the limits of truth in 
stating that the number of great habitual volcanic vents upon the 
globe which we have reason to believe are still in active condition, 
is somewhere between 300 and 350. Most of these are marked by 

more or less considerable mountains, composed of the materials 

(23 s) 



236 ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 

ejected from them. But if we include mountains which exhibit the 
external conical form, crater-like hollows, and other features of 
volcanoes, yet concerning the activity of which we have no record 
or tradition, the number will fall little, if anything, short of i,ooo. 

The mountains composed of volcanic materials, but which have 
lost through denudation the external form of volcanoes, are still 
more numerous, and the smaller temporary openings which are 
usually subordinate to the habitual vents that have been active dur- 
ing the periods covered by history and tradition, must be numbered 
by thousands. There are still feebler manifestations of the volcanic 
forces — such as steam-jets, geysers, thermal and mineral waters, 
spouting saline and muddy springs, and mud volcanoes — that may 
be reckoned by millions. It is not improbable that these less pow- 
erful manifestations of the volcanic forces to a great extent make 
up in number what they want in individual energy ; and the relief 
which they afford to the imprisoned activities within the earth's 
crust may be almost equal to that which results from the occasional 
outbursts at the great habitual volcanic vents. 

In taking a general survey of the volcanic phenomena of the 
globe, no facts come out more strikingly than that of the very un- 
equal distribution, both of the great volcanoes, and of the minor 
exhibitions of subterranean energy. 

Thus, on the whole of the continent of Europe, there is but 
one habitual volcanic vent — that of Vesuvius — and this is situated 
upon the shores of the Mediterranean. In the islands of that sea, 
however there are no less than six volcanoes : namely, Stromboli, 
and Vulcano, in the Lipari Islands ; Etna, in Sicily ; Graham's Isle, 
a submarine volcano, off the Sicilian coast ; and Santorin and Ni- 
Sj/Ds, in the ^gean Sea, 



ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 237 

The African continent is at present known to contain about 
ten active volcanoes — four on the west coast, and six on the east 
coast, while about ten other active volcanoes occur on islands close 
to the African coasts. On the continent of Asia, more than twenty 
active volcanoes are known or believed to exist, but no less than 
twelve of these are situated in the peninsula of Kamchatka. No 
volcanoes are known to exist in the Australian continent. 

The American continent contains a greater number of vol- 
canoes than the continents of the Old World. There are twenty 
in North America, twenty-five in Central America, and thirty-seven 
in South America. Thus, taken altogether, there are about one 
hundred and seventeen volcanoes situated on the great continental 
lands of the globe, while nearly twice as many occur upon the 
islands scattered over the various oceans. 

ASIATIC INLAND VOLCANOES 

Upon examining further into the distribution of the conti- 
nental volcanoes, another very interesting fact presents itself. The 
volcanoes are in almost every instance situated either close to the 
coasts of the continent, or at no great distance from them. There 
are, indeed, only two exceptions to this rule. In the great and 
almost wholly unexplored table-land lying between Siberia and 
Tibet four volcanoes are said to exist, and in the Chinese province 
of Manchuria several others. More reliable information is, how- 
ever, needed concerning these volcanoes. 

It is a remarkable circumstance that all the oceanic islands 
which are not coral-reefs are composed of volcanic rock^ ; and 
many of these oceanic islands, as well as others lying near the 
shores of the continents, contain active volcanoes. 

Through the midst of the Atlantic Ocean runs a ridge, which, 
by the soundings of the various exploring vessels sent out in recent 



238 ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 

years, has been shown to divide the ocean longitudinally into two 
basins. Upon this great ridge, and the spurs proceeding from it, 
rise numerous mountainous masses, which constitute the well- 
known Atlantic islands and groups of islands. All of these are of 
volcanic origin, and among them are numerous active volcanoes. 
The Island of Jan Mayen contains an active volcano, and Iceland 
contains thirteen, and not improbably more ; the Azores have six 
active volcanoes, the Canaries three ; while about eight volcanoes 
lie off the west coast of Africa. In the West Indies there are six 
active volcanoes ; and three submarine volcanoes have been 
recorded within the limits of the Atlantic Ocean. Altogether, no 
less than forty active volcanoes are situated upon the great subma- 
rine ridges which traverse the Atlantic longitudinally. 

But along the same line the number of extinct volcanoes is far 
greater, and there are not wanting proofs that the volcanoes which 
are still active are approaching the condition of extinction. 

VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC 

If the great medial chain of the Atlantic presents us with an 
example of a chain of volcanic mountains verging on extinction, 
we have in the line of islands separating the Pacific and Indian 
Oceans an example of a similar range of volcanic vents which are 
in a condition of the greatest activity. In the peninsula of Kam^ 
chatka there are twelve active volcanoes, in the Aleutian Islands 
thirty-one, and in the peninsula of Alaska three. The chain of the 
Kuriles contains at least ten active volcanoes ; the Japanese Islands 
and the islands to the south of Japan twenty-five. The great group 
of islands lying to the south-east of the Asiatic continent is at the 
present time the grandest focus of volcanic activity upon the globe. 
No less than fifty active volcanoes occur here* 



ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 



.^39 



Farther south, the same chain is probably continued by the 
four active volcanoes of New Guinea, one or more submarine vol- 
canoes, and several vents in New Britain, the Solomon Isles, and 
the New Hebrides, the three active volcanoes of New Zealand, and 
possibly by Mount Erebus and Mount Terror in the Antarctic 
region. Altogether, no less than 1 50 active volcanoes exist in the 



F^-^V^/-'--' 



^i 



*t t 



■^Tl 






.^^ 







-* c^'^SS^ 



pz.<%r 







MOUNT EREBUS. 

Two volcanoes exist in the frozen seas of the Antarctic zone. Mount Erebus and Moutit Terror, whose stnokiag 

summits indicate a strange conjunction of the forces of fire and frost, 

chain of islands which stretch from Behring's Straits down to the 
Antarctic circle ; and if we include the volcanoes on Indian and 
Pacific Islands which appear to be situated on lines branching from 
this particular band, we shall not be wrong in the assertion that 
this great system of volcanic mountains includes at least one half 
of the habitually active vents of the globe. In addition to the 
active vents, there are here several hundred very perfect volcanic 



HO ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 

cones, many of which appear to have recently become extinct, 
though some of them may be merely dormant, biding their time. 

A third series of volcanoes starts from the neighborhood 
of Behring's Straits, and stretches along the whole western coast 
of the American continent. This is much less continuous, but 
nevertheless very important, and contains, with its branches, nearly 
a hundred active volcanoes. On the north this great band is 
almost united with the one we have already described by the chain 
of the Aleutian and Alaska volcanoes. In British Columbia 
about the parallel of 60° N. there exist a number of volcanic 
mountains, one of which. Mount St. Elias, is believed to be 18,000 
feet in height. Farther south, in the territory of the United 
States, a number of grand volcanic mountains exist, some of which 
are probably still active, for geysers and other manifestations of 
volcanic activity abound. From the southern extremity of the 
peninsula of California an almost continuous chain of volcanoes 
stretches through Mexico and Gautemala, and from this part of 
the volcanic band a branch is given off which passes through the 
West Indies, and contains the volcanoes which have so recently 
given evidence of their vital activity. 

In South America the line is continued by the active volca 
noes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Chili, but at many intermediate 
points in the chain of the Andes extinct volcanoes occur, which to 
a great extent fill up the gaps in the series. A small offshoot to 
the westward passes through the Galapagos Islands. The great 
band of volcanoes which stretches through the American continent 
is second only in importance, and in the activity of its vents, to 
the band which divides the Pacific from the Indian Ocean. 

The third volcanic band of the globe is that, already spoken 
of, which traverses the Atlantic Ocean from north to south. Thi» 



ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 241 

series of volcanic mountains is much more broken and interrupted 
than the other two, and a greater proportion of its vents are ex- 
tinct. It attained its condition of maximum activity during the 
distant period of the Miocene, and now appears to be passing into 
a state of gradual extinction. 

Beginning in the north with the volcanic rocks of Greenland 
and Bear Island, we pass southwards, by way of Jan May(;n, Ice 




MOUNT HECLA— ICELAND. 

One of the two most famous of the great Icelandic volcanoes, 

land and the Faroe Islands, to the Hebrides and the north of Ire- 
land. Thence, by way of the Azores, the Canaries and the Cape 
de Verde Islands, with some active vents, we pass to the ruined 
volcanoes of St. Paul, Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, St. He- 
lena, Trinidad and Tristan da Cunha. From this great Atlantic 
band two branches proceed to the eastward, one through Central 
Europe, where all the vents are now extinct, and the other through 
16 



242 ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 

the Mediterranean to Asia Minor, the great majority of the volca- 
noes along the latter line being now extinct, though a few are still 
active. The volcanoes on the eastern coast of Africa may be 
feg^arded as situated on another branch from this Atlantic volcanic 
band. The number of active volcanoes on this Atlantic band and 
its branches, exclusive of those in the West Indies, does not exceed 
fifty. 

THIAN SHAN AND HAWAIIAN VOLCANOES 

From what has been said, it will be seen that the volcanoes of 
the globe not only usually assume a linear arrangement, but nearly 
the whole of them can be shown to be thrown up along three well- 
marked bands and the branches proceeding from them. The first 
and most important of these bands is nearly 10,000 miles in length, 
and with its branches cojitains more than 1 50 active volcanoes ; the 
second is 8,000 miles in length, and includes about 100 active vol- 
canoes ; the third is much more broken and interrupted, extends to 
a length of nearly 1,000 miles, and contains about 50 active vents. 
The volcanoes of the eastern coast of Africa, with Mauritius, 
Bourbon, Rodriguez, and the vents along the line of the Red Sea, 
may be regarded as forming a fourth and subordinate band. 

Thus we see that the surface of the globe is covered by a net- 
work of volcanic bands, all of which traverse it in sinuous lines 
with a general north-and-south direction, giving off branches which 
often run for hundreds of miles, and sometimes appear to form a 
connection between the great bands. 

To this rule of the linear arrangement of the volcanic vents 
of the globe, and their accumulation along certain well-marked 
bands, there are two very striking exceptions, which we must now 
proceed to notice. 



ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 243 

In the very centre of the continent formed by Europe and 
Asia, the largest unbroken land-mass of the globe, there rises from 
the great central plateau the remarkable volcanoes of the Thian 
Shan Range. The existence of these volcanoes, of which only 
obscure traditional accounts had reached Europe before the year 
1858, appears to be completely established by the researches of 
recent Russian and Swedish travelers. Three volcanic vents appear 
to exist in this region, and other volcanic phenomena have been 
stated to occur in the great plateau of Central Asia, but the exists 
ence of the latter appears to rest on very doubtful evidence. The 
only accounts which we have of the eruptions of these Thian Shan 
volcanoes are contained in Chinese histories and treatises on geog- 
raphy* 

The second exceptionally situated Volcanic group is that of 
the Hawaiian Islands. While the Thian Shan volcanoes rise in 
the centre of the largest unbroken land-mass, and stand on the edge 
of the loftiest and greatest plateau in the worlds the volcanoes of 
the Hawaiian Islands rise in the northern centre of the largest ocean 
and from almost the greatest depths in that ocean. All round the 
Hawaiian Islands the sea has a depth of from 2,000 to 3,000 fath-* 
oms, and the island-group culminates in several volcanic cones, 
which rise to the height of nearly 14,000 feet above the sea-level. 
The volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands are unsurpassed in height 
and bulk by those of any other part of the globe. 

With the exception of the two isolated groups of the Thian 
Shan and the Hawaiian Islands, nearly all the active volcanoes of 
the globe are situated near the limits which separate the great land- 
and-water-masses of the globe — that is to say, they Occur either on 
the parts of continents not far removed from their coast-lines, or 
on islands in the ocean not very far distant from the shores. The 



244 ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 

fact of the general proximity of volcanoes to the sea is one which 
has frequently been pointed out by geographers, and may now be 
regarded as being thoroughly established. 

VOLCANOES PARALLEL TO MOUNTAIN CHAINS 

Many of the grandest mountain-chains have bands of vol- 
canoes lying parallel to them. This is strikingly exhibited by the 
great mountain-masses which lie on the western side of the Ameri- 
can continent. The Rocky Mountains and the Andes consist of 
folded and crumpled masses of altered strata which, by the action 
of denuding forces, have been carved into series of ridges and sum- 
mits. At many points, however, along the sides of these great 
chains we find that fissures have been opened and lines of vol- 
canoes formed, from which enormous quantities of lava have 
flowed and covered great tracts of country. 

This is especially marked in the Snake River plain of Idaho, 
in the western United States. In this, and the adjoining regions 
of Oregon and Washington, an enormous tract of country has been 
overflowed by lava in a late geological period, the surface covered 
being estimated to have a larger area than France and Great Britain 
combined. The Snake River cuts through it in a series of pictur- 
esque gorges and rapids, enabling us to estimate its thickness, 
which is considered to average 4000 feet. Looked at from any 
point on its surface, one of these lava-plains appears as a vast level 
surface, like that of a lake bottom. This uniformity has been pro- 
duced either by the lava rolling over a plain or lake bottom, or by 
the complete efTacement of an original, undulating contour of the 
ground under hundreds or thousands of feet of lava in successive 
sheets. The lava, rolling up to the base of the mountains, has 
followed the sinuosities of their margin, as the waters of a lake 



ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 245 

follow its promontories and bays. Similar conditions exist along 
the Sierra Nevada range of California, and to some extent placer 
mining has gone on under immense beds of lava, by a process of 
tunneling beneath the volcanic rock. 

In some localities the volcanoes are of such height and dimen- 
sions as to overlook and dwarf the mountain-ranges by the side of 
which they lie. Some of the volcanoes lying parallel to the great 
American axis appear to be quite extinct, while others are in full 
activity. In the Eastern continent we find still more striking exam- 
ples of parallelism between great mountain-chains and the lands 
along which volcanic activity is exhibited — volcanoes, active or 
extinct, following the line of the great east and west chains which 
extend through southern Europe and Asia. There are some other 
volcanic bands which exhibit a similar parallelism with mountain 
chains ; but, on the other hand, there are volcanoes between which 
and the nearest mountain-axis no such connection can be traced. 

AREAS OF UPHEAVAL AND SUBSIDENCE 

There is one other fact concerning the mode of distribution of 
volcanoes upon the surface of the globe, to which we must allude. 
By a study of the evidences presented by coral-reefs, raised 
beaches, submerged forests, and other phenomena of a similar kind, 
it can be shown that certain wide areas of the land and of the 
ocean-floor are at the present time in a state of subsidence, while 
other equally large areas are being upheaved. And the observa- 
tions of the geologist prove that similar upward and downward 
movements of portions of the earth's crust have been going, on 
through all geological times. 

Now, as Mr. Darwin has so well shown in his work on " Coral- 
Reefs," if we trace upon a map the areas of the earth's surface 



346 ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE EARTH 

which are undergoing upheaval and subsidence respectively, we 
shall find that nearly all the active volcanoes of the globe are sit- 
uated upon rising areas, and that volcanic phenomena arr, con- 
spicuously absent from those parts of the earth's crust which can be 
proved at the present day to be undergoing depression. 

The remarkable linear arrangement of volcanic vents has a 
significance that is well worthy of fuller consideration. There are 
facts known which point to the cause of this state of affairs. It is 
not uncommon for small cones of scoriae to be seen following lines 
on the flanks or at the base of a great volcanic mountain. These 
are undoubtedly lines of fissure, caused by the subterranean forces. 
In fact, such fissures have been seen opening on the sides of Mount 
Etna, in whose bottom could be seen the glowing lava. Along 
these fissures, in a few days, scoriae cones appeared ; on one occa- 
sion no less than thirty-six in number. 

It is believed by geologists that the linear systems of volcanoes 
are ranged along similar lines of fissure in the earth's crust — enor- 
mous breaks, extending for thousands of miles, and the result of in- 
ternal energies acting through vast periods of time. Along these 
immense fissures in the earth's rock-crust there appear, in place of 
small scoriae cones, great volcanoes, built up through the ages by a 
series of powerful eruptions, and only ceasing to spout fire them- 
selves when the portion of the great crack upon which they lie is 
closed. The greatest of these fissures is that along the vast sin- 
uous band of volcanoes extending from near the Arctic circle at 
Behring's Straits to the Antarctic circle at South Victoria Land, 
not far from half round the earth. It doubtless marks the line of 
mighty forces which have been active for millions of years. 



CHARTER XXII. 

The Famous Vesuvius and the Destruction of 
Pompeii and Herculaneum. 

THE famous volcano of southern Italy named Vesuvius, which 
is now so constantly in eruption, was described by the an- 
cients as a cone-shaped mountain with a flat top, on which 
was a deep circular valley filled with vines and grass, and sur-< 
rounded by high precipices. A large population lived on the sides 
of the mountain, which was covered with beautiful woods, and 
there were fine flourishing cities at its foot. So little was the 
terrible nature of the valley on the top understood, that in a. d. 72, 
Spartacus, a rebellious Roman gladiator, encamped there with some 
thousands of fighting men, and the Roman soldiers were let down 
the precipices in order to surprise and capture them. 

There had been earthquakes around the mountain, and one of 
the cities had been nearly destroyed ; but no one was prepared for 
what occured seven years after the defeat of Spartacus. Suddenly, 
in the year 79 a. d., a terrific rush of smoke, steam, and fire 
belched from the mountain's summit ; one side of the valley in 
which Spartacus had encamped was blown off, and its rocks, with 
vast quantities of ashes, burning stones, and sand, were ejected far 
into the sky. They then spread out like a vast pall, and fell far 
and wide. For eight days and nights this went on, and the enorm- 
ous quantity of steam sent up. together with the deluge of rain 
that fell, produced torrents on the mountain-side, which, carrying 

(247) 



248 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

onward the fallen ashes, overwhelmed everything in their way. 
Sulphurous vapors filled the air and violent tremblings of the earth 
were constant. 

A city six miles off was speedily rendered uninhabitable, and 
was destroyed by the falling stones ; but two others— Herculaneum 
and Pompeii — which already had suffered from tK2 down-pour of 
ashes, were gradually filled with a flood of water, sand, and ashes, 
which came down the side of the volcano, and covering them entirely. 

BURIED CITIES EXCAVATED. 

The difference in ease of excavation is due to the following 
circumstance. Herculaneum being several miles nearer the crater, 
was buried in a far more consistent substance, seemingly composed 
of volcanic ashes cemented by mud ; Pompeii, on the contrary, was 
buried only in ashes and loose stones. The casts of statues found 
in Herculaneum show the plastic character of the material that fell 
there, which time has hardened to rock-like consistency. 

These statues represented Hercules and Cleopatra, and the 
theatre proved to be that of the long-lost city of Herculaneum. 
The site of Pompeii was not discovered until forty years after- 
ward, but work there proved far easier than at Herculaneum, and 
more progress was made in bringing it back to the light of day. 

The less solid covering of Pompeii has greatly facilitated the 
work of excavation, and a great part of the city has been laid bare. 
Many of its public buildings and private residences are now visible, 
and some whole streets have been cleared, while a multitude of 
interesting relics have been found. Among those are casts of many 
of the inhabitants, obtained by pouring liquid plaster into the ash 
moulds that remained of them. We see them to-day in the attitude 
and with the expression of agony and horror with which death met 
them more than eighteen centuries ago. 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 249 

In succeeding eruptions much lava was poured out; and in 
A. D. 472, ashes were cast over a great part of Europe, so that much 
fear was caused at Constantinople. The buried cities were more 
and more covered up, and it was not until about a. d. i 700 that, as 
above stated, the city of Herculaneum was discovered, the peasants 
of the vicinity being in the habit of extracting marble from its 
ruins. They had also, in the course of years, found many statues. 
In consequence, an excavation was ordered by Charles III, the 
earliest result being the discovery of the theatre, with the statues 
above named. The work of excavation, however, has not pro- 
gressed far in this city, on account of its extreme difificulty, though 
various excellent specimens of art-work have been discovered, in- 
cluding the finest examples of mural painting extant from antiq< 
uity. The library was also discovered, 1803 papyri being found. 
Though these had been charred to cinder, and were very difficult 
to unroll and decipher, over 300 of them have been read. 

pliny's celebrated description 

Pliny the Younger, to whom we are indebted for the €>nly con- 
temporary account of the great eruption under consideration, was 
at the time of its occurrence resident with his mother at Misenum, 
where the Roman fleet lay, under the command of his uncle, the 
great author of the " Historia Naturalis". His account, contained 
in two letters to Tacitus {lib. vi. 16, 20), is not so much a narrative 
of the eruption, as a record of his uncle's singular death, yet it is 
of great interest as yielding the impressions of an observer. The 
translation which follows is adopted from the very free version of 
Melmoth, except in one or two places, where it differs much from 
the ordinary text. The letters are given entire, though some parts 
are rather specimens of style than good examples of description. 



aso 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 



"Your request that I should send an account of my uncle's 
death, in order to transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity, 
deserves my acknowledgments ; for if this accident shall be cele- 
brated by your pen, the glory of it, I am assured, will be rendered 
forever illustrious. And, notwithstanding he perished by a misfor- 
tune which, as it involved at the same time a most beautiful country 
in ruins, and destroyed so many populous cities, seems to promise 




MOUNT VESUVIUS BEFORE ERUPTION OF A. D. Tg. 

him an everlasting remembrance ; notwithstanding he has himself 
composed many and lasting works ; yet I am persuaded the men- 
tion of him in your immortal works will greatly contribute to eter- 
nize his name. Happy I esteem those to be, whom Providence 
has distinguished with the abilities either of doing such actions as 
are worthy of being related, or of relating them in a manner wor- 
thy of being read ; but doubly happy are they who are blessed with 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 251 

both these talents; in the number of which my uncle, as his own 
writings and your history will prove, may justly be ranked. It is 
with extreme willingness, therefore, that I execute your commands ; 
and should, indeed, have claimed the task if you had not enjoined it. 

** He was at that time with the fleet under his command at 
Misenum. On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my 
mother desired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a very 
unusual size and shape. He had just returned from taking the 
benefit of the sun, and, after bathing himself in cold water, and tak- 
ing a slight repast, had retired to his study. He immediately 
arose, and went out upon an eminence, from whence he might more 
distinctly view this very uncommon appearance. It was not at 
that distance discernible from what mountain the cloud issued, but 
it was found afterward to ascend from Mount Vesuvius. I cannot 
give a more exact description of its figure than by comparing it to 
that of a pine tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a 
trunk, which extended itself at the top into a sort of branches ; occa- 
sioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the 
force of which decreased as it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself 
being pressed back again by its own weight, and expanding in this 
mann-er: it appeared sometimes bright, and sometimes dark and 
spotted, as it was more or less impregnated with earth and cinders. 

" This extraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle s philoso- 
phical curiosity to take a nearer view of it. He ordered a light 
vessel to be got ready, and gave me the liberty, if I thought proper, 
to attend him. I rather chose to continue my studies, for, as it 
happened, he had given me an employment of that kind. As he 
was passing out of the house he received dispatches : the marines 
at Retina, terrified at the imminent peril (for the place lay beneath 
the mountain, and there was no retreat but by ships), entreated his 



252 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

aid in this extremity. He accordingly changed his first design, and 
what he began with a philosophical he pursued with an heroical 
turn of mind. 

THE VOYAGE TO STABI^ 

" He ordered the galleys to put to sea, and went himself on 
board with an intention of assisting not only Retina but many 
other places, for the population is thick on that beautiful coast. 
When hastening to the place from whence others fled with the ut- 
most terror, he steered a direct course to the point of danger, 
and with so much calmness and presence of mind, as to be able to 
make and dictate his observations upon the motion and figure of 
that dreadful scene. He was now so nigh the mountain that the 
cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, 
fell into the ships, together with pumice-stones, and black pieces of 
burning rock ; they. were in danger of not only being left aground 
by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments 
which rolled down from the mountain, and obstructed all the shore. 

" Here he stopped to consider whether he should return back 
again ; to which the pilot advised him. 'Fortune,' said he, 'favors 
the brave ; carry me to Pomponianus.' Pomponianus was then at 
Stabi^, separated by a gulf, which the sea, after several insensible 
windings, forms upon the shore. He (Pomponianus) had already 
sent his baggage on board ; for though he was not at that time in 
actual danger, yet being within view of it, and indeed extremely 
near, if it should in the least increase, he was determined to put to 
sea as soon as the wind should change. It was favorable, however, 
for carrying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in the 
greatest consternation. He embraced him with tenderness, en- 
couraging and exhorting him to keep up his spirits ; and the more 
to dissipate his fears he ordered, w»th an air of unconcern, the 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 253 

baths to be got ready; when, after having bathed, he sat down to 
supper with great cheerfulness, or at least (what is equally heroic) 
with all the appearance of it. 

" In the meantime, the eruption from Mount Vesuvius flamed 
out in several places with much violence, which the darkness of the 
nieht contributed to render still more visible and dreadful. But 
my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, 
assured him it was only the burning of the villages, which the 
country people had abandoned to the flames ; after this he retired to 
rest, and it was most certain he was so little discomposed as to fall 
into a deep sleep ; for, being pretty fat, and breathing hard, those 
who attended without actually heard him snore. The court which 
led to his apartment being now almost filled with stones and ashes, 
if he had continued there any longer it would have been impossible 
for him to have made his way out ; it was thought proper, therefore, 
to awaken him. He got up and went to Pomponianus and the rest 
of his company, who were not unconcered enough to think of 
going to bed. They consulted together whether it would be most 
prudent to trust to the houses, which now shook from side to side 
with frequent and violent concussions ; or to fly to the open fields, 
where the calcined stone and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell 
in large showers and threatened destruction. In this distress they 
resolved for the fields as the less dangerous situation of the two — 
a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried into 
it by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate con- 
sideration. 

DEATH OF PLINY THE ELDER 

" They went out, then, having pillows tied upon their heads 
with napkins ; and this was their whole defence against the storm 
of stones that fell around them. It was now day everywhere else. 



254 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the most obscure 
night ; which, however, was in some degree dissipated by torches 
and other Hghts of various kinds. They thought proper to go 
down further upon the shore, to observe if they might safely put 
out to sea ; but they found that the waves still ran extremely high 
and boisterous. There my uncle, having drunk a draught or two of 
cold water, threw himself down upon a cloth which was spread for 
him, when immediately the flames, and a strong smell of sulphur 
which was the forerunner of them, dispersed the rest of the com- 
pany, and obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the 
assistance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dead, suf- 
focated, as I conjecture, by some gross and noxious vapor, having 
always had weak lungs, and being frequently subject to a difficulty 
of breathing. 

" As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third day 
after this melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and with- 
out any marks of violence upon it, exactly in the same posture as that 
in which he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than dead. 
During all this time my mother and I were at Misenum. But this 
has no connection with your history, as your inquiry went no farther 
than concerning my uncle's death ; with that, therefore, I will put an 
end to my letter. Suffer me only to add, that I have faithfully related 
to you what I was either an eye-witness of myself, or received imme- 
diately after the accident happened, and before there was any time 
to vary the truth. You will choose out of this narrative such cir- 
cumstances as shall be most suitable to your purpose ; for there is a 
great difference between what is proper for a letter and a history; 
between writing to a friend and writing to the public. Farewell." 
In this account, which was drawn up some years after the event, 
from the recollections of a student eighteen years old, we recognize 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 255 

the continual earthquakes; the agitated sea with its uplifted 
bed ; the flames and vapors of an ordinary eruption, probably 
attended by lava as well as ashes. But it seems likely that the 
author's memory, or rather the information communicated to him 
regarding the closing scene of Pliny's life, was defective. Flames 
and sulphurous vapors could hardly be actually present at Stabiae, 
ten miles from the centre of the eruption. 

That lava flowed at all from Vesuvius on this occasion has 
been usually denied ; chiefly because at Pompeii and Herculaneum 
the causes of destruction were different — ashes overwhelmed the 
former, mud concreted over the latter. We observe, indeed, phe- 
nomena on the shore near Torre del Greco which seem to require 
the belief that currents of lava had been solidified there at some 
period before the construction of certain walls and floors, and other 
works of Roman date. In the Oxford Museum, among the speci- 
mens of lava to which the dates are assigned, is one referred to 
A. D. 79, but there is no mode of proving it to have belonged to 
the eruption of that date. 

pliny's second letter 

A second letter from Pliny to Tacitus {Epist, 20) was required 
to satisfy the curiosity of that historian ; especially as regards the 
events which happened under the eyes of his friend. Here it is 
according to Melmoth : 

" The letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote 
to you concerning the death of my uncle, has raised, it seems, your 
curiosity to know what terrors and danger attended me while I 
continued at Misenum : for there, I think, the account in my former 
letter broke off. 

* Though my shocked soul recoils, my tongue shall tell.' 



256 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

" My uncle having left us, 1 pursued the studies which pre- 
vented my going with him till it was time to bathe. After which I 
went to supper, and from thence to bed, where my sleep was greatly 
broken and disturbed. There had been, for many days before, 
some shocks of an earthquake, which the less surprised us as they 
are extremely frequent in Campania ; but they were so particularly 
violent that night, that they not only shook everything about us, 
but seemed, indeed, to threaten total destruction. My mother flew 
to my chamber, where she found me rising in order to awaken her. 
We went out into a small court belonging to the house, which sepa- 
rated the sea from the buildings. As I was at that time but eigh- 
teen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behavior, 
in this dangerous juncture, courage or rashness ; but I took up 
Livy, and amused myself with turning over that author, and even 
making extracts from him, as if all about me had been in full 
security. While we were in this posture, a friend of my uncle's, who 
was just come from Spain to pay him a visit, joined us ; and observ- 
ing me sitting with my mother with a book in my hand, greatly 
condemned her calmness at the same time that he reproved me for 
my careless security. Nevertheless, I still went on with my author. 

" Though it was now morning, the light was exceedingly faint 
and languid ; the buildings all around us tottered ; and, though we 
stood upon open ground, yet as the place was narrow and confined, 
there was no remaining there without certain and great danger t 
we therefore resolved to quit the town. The people followed us 
in the utmost consternation, and, as to a mind distracted with terror 
every suggestion seems more prudent than its own, pressed in great 
crowds about us in our way out. 

" Being got to a convenient distance from the houses, we stood 
still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 257 

chariots which we had ordered to be drawn out were so agitated 
backwards and forwards, though upon the most level ground, that 
we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with 
large stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be 
driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth ; it is 
certain at least that the shore was considerably enlarged, and many 
sea animals were left upon it. On the other side a black and 
dreadful cloud, bursting with an igneous serpentine vapor, darted 
out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but much 
larofer. 

FEAR VERSUS COMPOSURE 

" Upon this the Spanish friend whom I have mentioned, 
addressed himself to my mother and me with great warmth and 
earnestness ; * If your brother and your uncle,* said he, ' is safe, he 
certainly wishes you to be so too ; but if he has perished, it was his 
desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him : why therefore 
do you delay your escape a moment ?' We could never think of 
our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his. Hereupon 
our friend left us, and withdrew with the utmost precipitation. 
Soon afterward, the cloud seemed to descend, and cover the whole 
ocean ; as it certainly did the island of Caprese, and the promontory 
of Misenum. My mother strongly conjured me to make my escape 
at any rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do ; as for her- 
self, she said, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that 
sort impossible. However, she would willingly meet death, if she 
could have the satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion 
of mine. But I absolutely, refused to leave her, and taking her by 
the hand, I led her on ; she complied with great reluctance, and 
not without many reproaches to herself for retarding my flight. 

"The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great 
17 



258 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

quantity. I turned my head and observed behind us a thick smoke, 
which came rolling after us like a torrent. I proposed, while we 
yet had any light, to turn out of the high road lest she should be 
pressed to death in the dark by the crowd that followed us. We 
had scarce stepped out of the path when darkness overspread us, 
not like that of a cloudy night, or when there is no moon, but of a 
room when it is all shut up and all the lights are extinct. Nothing 
then was to be heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of 
children and the cries of men ; some calling for their children, 
others for their parents, others for their husbands, and only distin- 
guishing each other by their voices ; one lamenting his own fate, 
another that of his family ; some wishing to die from the very fear 
of dying ; some lifting their hands to the gods ; but the greater part 
imagining that the last and eternal night was come, which was to 
destroy the gods and the world together. Among them were some 
who augmented the real terrors by imaginary ones, and made the 
frighted multitude believe that Misenum was actually in flames. 

" At length a glimmering light appeared, which we imagined 
to be rather the forerunner of an approaching burst of flames, as 
in truth it was, than the return of day. However, the fire fell at r 
distance from us ; then again we were immersed in thick darkness, 
and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged 
every now and then to shake off, otherwise we should have been 
crushed and buried in the heap. 

** I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a 
sigh or expression of fear escaped me, had not my support been 
founded in that miserable, though strong, consolation that all man- 
kind were involved in the same calamity, and that I imagined I was 
perishing with the world itself ! At last this dreadful darkness was 
dissipated by degrees, like a cloud of smoke ; the real day returned, 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 259 

and soon the sun appeared, though very faintly, and as when an 
eclipse is coming on. Every object that presented itself to oui 
eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed changed, being cov- 
ered over with white ashes, as with a deep snow. We returned to 
Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and 
passed an anxious night between hope and fear, for the earthquake 
still continued, while several greatly excited people ran up and down, 
heightening their own and their friends' calamities by terrible pre- 
dictions. However, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger 
we had passed and that which still threatened us, had no thoughts 
of leaving the place till we should receive some account from my 
uncle. 

" And now you will read this narrative without any view of 
inserting it in your history, of which it Is by no means worthy ; 
and, indeed, you must impute it to your own request if it shall not 
even deserve the trouble of a letter. Farewell ! " 

DION CASSIUS ON THE ERUPTION 

The story told by Pliny is the only one upon which we can 
rely. Dion Cassius, the historian, who wrote more than a century 
later, does not hesitate to use his imagination, telling us that Pom- 
peii was buried under showers of ashes **' while all the people were 
sitting in the theatre." This statement has been effectively made 
use of by Bulwer, in his " Last Days of Pompeii." In this he pic- 
tures for us a gladiatorial combat in the arena, with thousands of 
deeply interested spectators occupying the surrounding seats. The 
novelist works his story up to a thrilling climax in which the volcano 
plays a leading part. 

This is all very well as a vivid piece of fiction, but it does not 
accord with fact, since Dion Cassius was undoubtedly incorrect irt 



26o THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

his statement. We now know from the evidence furnished by the 
excavations that none of the people were destroyed in the theatres, 
and, indeed, that there were very few who did not escape from both 
cities. It is very likely that many of them returned and dug down 
for the most valued treasures in their buried habitations. Dion 
Cassius may have obtained the material for his accounts from the 
traditions of the descendants of survivors, and if so he shows 
how terrible must have been the impression made upon their 
minds. He assures us that during the eruption a multitude of men 
of superhuman nature appeared, sometimes on the mountain and 
sometimes in the environs, that stones and smoke were thrown out, 
the sun was hidden, and then the giants seemed to rise again, while 
the sounds of trumpets were heard. 

LAKE AVERNUS 

Not far from Vesuvius lay the famous Lake Avernus, whose 
name was long a popular synonym for the infernal regions. The 
lake is harmless to-day, but its reputation indicates that it was not 
always so. There is every reason to believe that it hides the out- 
let of an extinct volcano, and that long after the volcano ceased to 
be active it emitted gases as fatal to animal life as those suffocat- 
ing vapors which annihilated all the cattle on the Island of Lance- 
rote, in the Canaries, in the year 1730. Its name signifies "bird- 
less," indicating that its ascending vapors were fatal to all birds 
that attempted to fly above its surface. 

In the superstition of the Middle Ages Vesuvius assumed the 
character which had before been given to Avernus, and was 
regarded as the mouth of hell. Cardinal Damiano, in a letter to 
Pope Nicholas II., written about the year 1060, tells the story of 
how a priest, who had left his mother ill at Beneventunij went on 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 



261 



his homeward way to Naples past the crater of Vesuvius, and heard 
issuing therefrom the voice of his mother in great agony. He after- 
ward found that her death coincided exactly with the time at which 
he had heard her voice. 

A trip to the summit of Vesuvius is one of the principal attrac- 
tions for strangers who are visiting Naples. There is a fascina- 
tion about that awful slayer of cities which few can resist, and no 




A LATER VIEW OF MOUNT VESUVIUS 



less attractive is the city of Pompeii, now largely laid bare after 
being buried for eighteen centuries. We are indebted to Henry 
Haynie for the following interesting description : "Once seen, it will 
never be forgotten. It is full of suggestions. It kindles emotions 
that are worth the kindling, and brings on dreams that are worth 
the dreaming. Of the three places overwhelmed, Herculaneum. 
Pompeii and Stabiae, the last scarcely repays excavation in one 



262 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

sense, and the first in another ; but to watch the diggers at Pom- 
peii is fascinating, even when there is no reasonable expectation of 
a find. Herculaneum was buried with lava, or rather with tufa, and 
it is so very hard that the expense of uncovering of only a small 
part of that city has been very great. 

HOW POMPEII IMPRESSES ITS VISITORS 

" Pompeii was smothered in ashes, however, and most of it is 
uncovered now. But while there is much that is fascinating, and 
all of it is instructive, there is nothing grand or awe-inspiring in 
the ruins of Pompeii. No visitor stands breathless as in the great 
hall of Karnak or in the once dreadful Coliseum at Rome, or 
dreams with sensuous delight as before the Jasmine Court at Agra. 
" The weirdness of the scene possesses us as a haunted cham- 
ber might. We have before us the narrow lanes, paved with tufa, 
in which Roman wagon wheels have worn deep ruts. We cross 
streets on stepping-stones which sandaled feet ages ago polished. 
We see the wine shops with empty jars, counters stained with 
liquor, stone mills where the wheat was ground, and the very ovens 
in which bread was baked more than eighteen centuries ago. * Wel- 
com.e ' is offered us at one silent, broken doorway ; at another we 
are warned to ' Beware of the dog ! * The painted figures, — some 
of them so artistic and rich in colors that pictures of them are dis- 
believed, — the mosaic pavements, the empty fountains, the altars 
and household gods, the marble pillars and the small gardens are 
there just as the owners left them. Some of the walls are scribbled 
over by the small boys of Pompeii in strange characters which 
mock modern erudition. In places we read the advertisements of 
gladiatorial shows, never to come off, the names of candidates for 
legislative office who were never to sit. There is nothing like this 
elsewhere. 



THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 263 

"The value of Pompeii to those classic students who would 
understand, not the speech only, but the life and the every-day 
habits, of the ancient world, is too high for reckoning. Its inesti- 
mable evidence may be seen in the fact that any high-school boy 
can draw the plan of a Roman house, while ripest scholars hesitate 
on the very threshhold of a Greek dwelling. This is because no 
Hellenic Pompeii has yet been discovered, but thanks to the silent 
city close to the beautiful Bay of Naples, the Latin house is known 
from ostium to porticus, from the front door to the back garden 
wall. 

STREETS AND HOUSES OF POMPEII 

•* The streets of Pompeii must have had a charm unapproached 
by those of any city now in existence. The stores, indeed, were 
wretched little dens. Two or three of them commonly occupied 
the front of a house on either side of the entrance, the ostium ; 
but when the door lay open, as was usually the case, a passerby 
could look into the atrium, prettily decorated and hung with rich 
stuffs. The sunshine entered through an aperture in the roof, and 
shone on the waters of the impluvium, the mosaic floor, the altar of 
the household gods and the flowers around the fountain. 

" As the life of the Pompeiians was all outdoors, their pretty 
homes stood open always. There was indeed a curtain betwixt 
the atrium and the peristyle, but it was drawn only when the mas- 
ter gave a banquet. Thus a wayfarer in the street could see, be- 
yond the hall described and its busy servants, the white columns of 
the peristyle, with creepers trained about them, flowers all around, 
and jets of water playing through pipes which are still in place. In 
many cases the garden itself could be observed between the pillars 
©f the further gallery, and rich paintings on the wall beyond that. 



264 THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 

" But how far removed those little palaces of Pompeii were 
from our notion of well-being is scarcely to be understood by one 
who has not seen them. It is a question strange in all points of 
view where the family slept in the houses, nearly all of which had 
no second story. In the most graceful villas the three to five sleep- 
ing chambers round the atrium and four round the peristyle were 
rather ornamental cupboards than aught else. One did not differ 
from another, and if these were devoted to the household the 
slaves, male and female, must have slept on the floor outside. The 
master, his family and his guest used these small, dark rooms, which 
were apparently without such common luxuries as we expect in the 
humblest home. All their furniture could hardly have been more 
than a bed and a footstool ; but it should be remembered that the 
public bath was a daily amusement. The kitchen of each villa cer- 
tainly was not furnished with such ingenuity, expense or thought 
as the stones of Roman gormandising would have led us to expect. 
In the house of the ^dile — so called from the fact that * Pansam 
^d.* is inscribed In red characters by the doorway — the cook seems 
to have been employed in frying eggs at the moment when increas- 
ing danger put him to flight. His range, four partitions of brick, 
was very small ; a knife, a strainer, a pan lay by the fire just as 
they fell from the slave's hand." 

VALUE OF THE DISCOVERY OF POMPEII 

This description strongly presents to us the principal value of 
the discovery of Pompeii. Interesting as are the numerous works 
of art found in its habitations, and important as is their bearing 
upon some branches of the art of the ancient world, this cannot 
compare in interest with the flood of light which is here thrown on 
ancient life in all its details, enabling us to» picture to ourselves the 



J^ 




Copyright, 1906, hy W. E. Scull. 

REFUGEES LEAVING THE FERRY HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO. 

Twisted and toppling in the consuming heat, the tall tower of the Ferry 

House stood' like a silhoutte against the lurid background of flame. 




A STREET IN CHINATOWN. 

The largest Chinese colony in America occupied the northeastern section of 

San Francisco. Its flimsy buildings made it an easy prey to the flames. 



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THE FAMOUS VESUVIUS 265 

manners and habits of life of a cultivated and flourishing popula- 
tion at the beginning of the Christian era, to an extent which no 
amount of study of ancient history could yield. 

Looking upon the work of the volcano as essentially destruc- 
tive, as we naturally do, we have here a valuable example of its 
power as a preservative agent ; and it is certainly singular that it is 
to a volcano we owe much of what we know concerning the cities, 
dwellings and domestic life of the people of the Roman Empire, 

It would be very fortunate for students of antiquity if similar 
disasters had happened to cities in other ancient civilized lands, 
however unfortunate it might have been to their inhabitants. But 
doubtless we are better off without knowledge gained from ruins 
thus produced. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Eruptions of Vesuvius, Etna and Stromboli. 



M' 



OUNT VESUVIUS is of especial interest as being the only 
active volcano on the continent of Europe — all others of 
that region being on the islands of the Mediterranean — and 
for the famous ancient eruption described in the last chapter. 
Before this it had borne the reputation of being extinct, but since 
then it has frequently shown that its fires have not burned out, and 
has on several occasions given a vigorous display of its powers. 

During the fifteen hundred years succeeding the destructive 
event described eruptions were of occasional occurrence, though of 
no great magnitude. But throughout the long intervals when 
Vesuvius was at rest it was noted that Etna and Ischia were more 
or less disturbed. 

THE BIRTH OF MONTE NUOVO 

In 1538 a startling evidence was given that there was no de- 
cline of energy in the volcanic system of Southern Italy. This was 
the sudden birth of the mountain still known as Monte Nuovo, or 
New Mountain, which was thrown up in the Campania near Aver- 
nus, on the spot formerly occupied by the Lucrine Lake. 

For about two years prior to this event the district had been 
disturbed by earthquakes, which on September 27 and 28, 1538,' 
became almost continuous. The low shore was slightly elevated, 
so that the sea retreated, leaving bare a strip about two hundred 

feet in width. The surface cracked, steam escaped, and at last, 

(266) 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 267 

early on the morning of the 29th, a greater rent was made, from 
which were vomited furiously " smoke, fire, stones and mud com- 
posed of ashes, making at the time of its opening a noise like the 
loudest thunder." 

The ejected material in less than twelve hours built the hill 
which has lasted substantially in the same form to our day. It is 
a noteworthy fact that since the formation of Monte Nuovo there 
has been no volcanic disturbance in any part of the Neapolitan 
district except in Vesuvius, which for five centuries previous had 
remained largely at rest. 

LAVA FROM VESUVIUS 

The first recognised appearance of lava in the eruptions of 
Vesuvius was in the violent eruption of 1036. This was succeeded 
at intervals by five other outbreaks, none of them of great energy. 
After 1500 the crater became completely quiet, the whole mountain 
in time being grown over with luxuriant vegetation, while by the 
next century the interior of the crater became green with shrub- 
bery, indicating that no injurious gases were escaping. 

This was sleep, not death. In 1631 the awakening came in an 
eruption of terrible violence. Almost in a moment the green 
mantle of woodland and shrubbery was torn away and death and 
destruction left where peace and safety had seemed assured. 

Seven streams of lava poured from the crater and swept rap. 
idly down the mountain side, leaving ruin along their paths. Re- 
sina, Granasello and Torre del Greco, three villages that had grown 
up during the period of quiescence, were more or less overwhelmed 
by the molten lava. Great torrents of hot water also poured out, 
adding to the work of desolation. It was estimated that eighteen 
thousand of the inhabitants were killed 



268 VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLl 

What made the horror all the greater was a frightful error of 
judgment, similar to that of the Governor of Martinique at St. 
Pierre. The Governor of Torre del Greco had refused to be 
warned in time, and prevented the people from making their escape 
until it was too late. Not until the lava had actually reached the 
walls was the order for departure given. Before the order could 
be acted upon the molten streams burst through the walls into 
the crowded streets and overwhelmed the vast majority of the in- 
habitants. 

In this violent paroxysm the whole top of the mountain is said 
to have been swept away, the new crater which took the place of 
the old one being greatly lowered. From that date Vesuvius has 
never been at rest for any long interval, and eruptions of some 
degree of violence have been rarely more than a few years apart. 
Of its various later manifestations of energy we select for description 
that of 1767, of which an interesting account by a careful observer 
is extant. 

GREAT ERUPTION OF 1 767 

• From the loth of December, 1766, to March, 1767, Vesuvius 
was quiet ; then it began to throw up stones from time to time. 
In April the throws were more frequent, and at night the red glare 
grew stronger on the cloudy columns which hung over the crater. 
These repeated throws of cinders, ashes and pumice-stones so much 
increased the small cone of eruption which had been left in the 
centre of the flat crateral space that its top became visible at a dis- 
tance. 

On the 7th of August there issued a small stream of lava from 
a breach in the side of a small cone ; the lava gradually filled the 
space between the cone and the crateral edge ; on the 12th of Sep* 
tember it overflowed the crater, and ran down the mountaia 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 269 

Stones were ejected which took ten seconds in their fall, from which 
it may be computed that the height which the stones reached was 
I 600 feet. Padre Torre, a great observer of Vesuvius, says they 
went up above a thousand feet. The lava ceased on the i8th of 
October, but at 8 a. m. on the 19th it rushed out at a different 
place, after volleys of stones had been thrown to an immense 
height, and the huge traditional pine-tree of smoke reappeared. 
On this occasion that vast phantom extended its menacing shadow 
over Capri, at a distance of twenty-eight miles from Vesuvius. 

The lava at first came out of a mouth about one hundred yards 
below the crater, on the side toward Monte Somma. While occu- 
pied in viewing this current, the observer heard a violent noise 
within the mountain ; saw it split open at the distance of a quarter 
of a mile, and saw from the new mouth a mountain of liquid fire shoot 
up many feet, and then, like a torrent, roll on toward him. The earth 
shook ; stones fell thick around him ; dense clouds of ashes dark- 
ened the air ; loud thunders came from the mountain top, and he 
took to precipitate flight. The Padre's account is too lively and 
instructive for his own words to be omitted. 

PADRE Torre's narrative 

" I was making my observations upon the I&va, which had 
already, from the spot where it first broke out, reached the valley, 
when, on a sudden, about noon, I heard a violent noise within the 
mountain, and at a spot about a quarter of a mile off the place 
where I stood the mountain split ; and with much noise, from this 
new mouth, a fountain of liquid fire shot up many feet high, and 
then like a torrent rolled on directly towards us. The earth shook 
at the same time that a volley of stones fell thick upon us ; in an 
instant clouds of black smoke and ashes caused almost a total 



270 VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

darkness ; the explosions from the top of the mountain were much 
louder than any thunder I ever heard, and the smell of the sulphur 
was very offensive. My guide, alarmed, took to his heels ; and I 
must confess that I was not at my ease. I followed close, and we 
ran near three miles without stopping ; as the earth continued to 
shake under our feet, I was apprehensive of ,the opening of a fresh 
mouth which might have cut off our retreat. 

" I also feared that the violent explosions would detach some 
of the rocks off the mountain of Somma, under which we were 
vbliged to pass ; besides, the pumice-stones, falling upon us like 
hail, were of such a size as to cause a disagreeable sensation in the 
part upon which they fell. After having taken breath, as the earth 
trembled greatly I thought it most prudent to leave the mountain 
and return to my villa, where I found my family in great alarm at 
the continual and violent explosions of the volcano, which shook 
our house to its very foundation, the doors and windows swinging 
upon their hinges. 

"About two of the clock in the afternoon (19th) another lava 
stream forced its way out of the same place from whence came the 
lava of last year, so that the conflagration was soon as great on this 
side of the mountain as on the other which I had just left. I 
observed on my way to Naples, which was in less than two hours 
after I had left the mountain, that the lava had actually covered 
three miles of the very road through which we had retreated. 
This river of lava in the Atrio del Cavallo was sixty or seventy 
feet deep, and in some places nearly two miles broad. Besides the 
explosions, which were frequent, there was a continued subte^ 
ranean and violent rumbling noise, which lasted five hours in the 
night, — supposed to arise from contact of the lava with rain-water 
lodged in cavities within. The whole neighborhood was shaken 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOU 271 

violently ; Portici and Naples were in the extremity of alarm ; the 
churches were filled ; the streets were thronged with processions of 
saints, and various ceremonies were performed to quell the fury 
of the mountain. 

** In the night of the 20th, the occasion being critical, the pris- 
oners in the public jail attempted to escape, and the mob set fire 
to the gates of the residence of the Cardinal Archbishop because 
he refused to bring out the relics of St. Januarius. The 21st was 
a quieter day, but the whole violence of the eruption returned on 
the 22d, at 10 a. m., with the same thundering noise, but more vio- 
lent and alarming. Ashes fell in abundance in the streets of Naples, 
covering the housetops and balconies an inch deep. Ships at sea, 
twenty leagues from Naples, were covered with them. 

"In the midst of these horrors, the mob, growing tumultuous 
and impatient, obliged the Cardinal to bring out the head of St. 
Januarius, at the extremity of Naples, toward Vesuvius ; and it is 
well attested here that the eruption ceased the moment the saint 
came in sight of the mountain. It is true the noise ceased about 
that time after having lasted five hours, as it had done the preced- 
ing days. 

" On the 23d the lava still ran, but on the 24th it ceased ; but 
smoke continued. On the 25th there rose a vast column of black 
smoke, giving out much forked lightning with thunder, in a sky 
quite clear except for the smoke of the volcano. On the 26th 
smoke continued, but on the 27th the eruption came to an end." 

This eruption was also described by Sir William Hamilton, 
who continued to keep a close watch on the movements of the vol- 
cano for many years. The next outbreak of especial violence took 
place in 1779, when what seemed to the eye a column of fire 
ascended two miles high, while cinder fragments fell far and wide. 



272 VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

destroying the hopes of harvest throughout a wide district. They 
fell in abundance thirty miles distant, and the dust of the explo- 
sion was carried a hundred miles away. 

In 1793 the crater became active again, and in 1794, after a 
period of short tranquillity or comparative inaction, the mountain 
again became agitated, and one of the most formidable eruptions 
known in the history of Vesuvius began. It was in some respects 
unlike many others, being somewhat peculiar as to the place of its 
outburst, the temperature of the lava, and the course of the current. 
Breislak, an Italian geologist, observed the characteristic phenomena 
with the eye of science, and his account supplies many interesting 
facts. 

BREISLAK ON THE ERUPTION OF 1 794 

Breislak remarked certain changes in the character of the earth- 
motions during this six hours' eruption, which led him to some par- 
ticular conjecture of the cause. At the beginning the trembling 
was continual, and accompanied by a hollow noise, similar to that 
occasioned by a river falling into a subterranean cavern. The lava, 
at the time of its being disgorged, from the impetuous and uninter* 
rupted manner in which it was ejected, causing it to strike violently 
against the walls of the vent, occasioned a continual oscillation of 
the mountain. Toward the middle of the night this vibratory 
motion ceased, and was succeeded by distant shocks. The fluid 
mass, diminished in quantity, now pressed less violently against the 
walls of the aperture, and no longer issued in a continual and 
gushing stream, but only at intervals, when the interior fermenta- 
tion elevated the boiling matter above the mouth. About 4 a. m. 
the shocks began to be less numerous, and the intervals between 
them rendered their force and duration more perceptible. 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 273 

During this tremendous eruption at the base of the Vesuvian 
cone, and the fearful earthquakes which accompanied it, the summit 
was tranquil. The sky was serene, the stars were brilliant, and only 
over Vesuvius hung a thick, dark smoke-cloud, lighted up into an 
auroral arch by the glare of a stream of fire more than two miles 
long, and more than a quarter of a mile broad. The sea was calm, 
and reflected the red glare ; while from the source of the lava came 
continual jets of uprushing incandescent stones. Nearer to 
view, Torre del Greco in flames, and clouds of black smoke, with 
falling houses, presented a dark and tragical foreground, heightened 
by the subterranean thunder of the mountain, and the groans and 
lamentations of fifteen thousand ruined men, women and children. 

The heavy clouds of ashes which were thrown out on this 
occasion gathered in the early morning into a mighty shadow over 
Naples and the neighborhood ; the sun rose pale and obscure, and 
a long, dim twilight reigned afterward. 

Such were the phenomena on the western side of Vesuvius. 
They were matched by others on the eastern aspect, not visible at 
Naples, except by reflection of their light in the atmosphere. The 
lava on this side flowed eastward, along a route often traversed by 
lava, by the broken crest of the Cognolo and the valley of 
Sorienta. The extreme length to which this current reached was 
not less than an Italian mile. The cubic content was estimated to 
be half that already assigned to the western currents. Taken 
together they amounted to 20,744,445 cubic metres, or 2,804,440 
cubic fathoms ; the constitution of the lava being the same in each, 
both springing from one deep-seated reservoir of fluid rock. 

The eruption of lava ceased on the i6th, and then followed 
heavy discharges of ashes, violent shocks of earthquakes, thunder 
and lightning in the columns of vapors and ashes, and finally heavy 
18 



274 VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOU 

rains, lasting till the 3d of July. The barometer during all the 
eruption was steady. 

Breislak made an approximate calculation of the quantity of 
ashes which fell on Vesuvius during this great eruption, and states 
the result as equal to what would cover a circular area 6 kilometres 
(about lYi English miles) in radius, and 39 centimetres (about 15 
inches) in depth. 

STRANGE EFFECTS 

Among the notable things which attended this eruption, it is 
recorded that in Torre del Greco metallic and other substances 
exposed to the current were variously affected. Silver was melted, 
glass became porcelain, iron swelled to four times its volume and 
lost its texture. Brass was decomposed, and its constituent copper 
crystallized in cubic and octahedral forms aggregated in beautiful 
branches. Zinc was sometimes turned to blende. During the 
eruption, the lip of the crater toward Bosco Tre Case on the south- 
east, fell in, or was thrown off, and the height of that part was 
reduced 426 feet. 

On the 17th, the sea was found in a boiling state 100 yards off 
the new promontory made by the lava of Torre del Greco, and no 
boat could remain near it on account of the melting of the pitch in 
her bottom. For nearly a month after the eruption vast quantities 
of fine white ashes, mixed with volumes of steam, were thrown out 
from the crater ; the clouds thus generated were condensed into 
heavy rain, and large tracts of the Vesuvian slopes were deluged 
with volcanic mud. It filled ravines, such as Fosso Grande, and 
concreted and hardened there into pumiceous tufa — a very instruc- 
tive phenomenon. 

Immense injury was done to the rich territory of Somma, Otta- 
jano and Bosco by heavy rains, which swept along cinders, broke 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOU 275 

up the road and bridges, and overturned trees and houses for the 
space of fifteen days. 

There were few years during the nineteenth century in which 
Vesuvius did not show symptoms of its internal fires, and at inter- 
vals it manifested much activity, though not equaling the terrible 
eruptions of its past history. The severest eruptions in that cen- 
tury were those of 187 1 and 1876. In the first a sudden emission 
of lava killed twenty spectators at the mouth of the crater, and only 
spent its fury after San Sebastian and Massa had been well nigh 
annihilated. Fragments of rock were thrown up to the height of 
4,cxx) feet, and the explosions were so violent that the whole 
countryside fled panic stricken to Naples. The activity of the vol- 
cano, accompanied by distinct shocks of earthquake, lasted for a 
week. 

In 1876, for three weeks together, lava streamed down the side 
of Vesuvius, sweeping away the village of Cercolo and running 
nearly to the sea at Ponte Maddaloni. There were then formed 
ten small craters within the greater one. But these were united 
by a later eruption in 1888, and pressure from beneath formed a 
vast cone where they had been. 

HARDIHOOD OF THE PEOPLE 

It may seem strange that so dangerous a neighborhood should 
be inhabited. But so it is. Though Pompeii, Herculaneum and 
Stabiae lie buried beneath the mud and ashes belched out of the 
mouth of Vesuvius, the villages of Portici and Revina, Torre del 
Greco and Torre del Annunziata have taken their place, and a large 
population, cheerful and prosperous, flourishes around the dis- 
turbed mountain and over the district of which it is the somewhat 
untrustworthy safety-valve. 



276 VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

It is thus that man, in his eagerness to cultivate all available 
parts of the earth, dares the most frightful perils and ventures into 
the most threatening situations, seeking to snatch the means of 
life from the very jaws of death. The danger is soon forgotten, 
the need of cultivation of the ground is ever pressing, and no 
threats of peril seem capable of restraining the activity of man for 
many years. Though the proposition of abandoning the Island of 
Martinique has been seriously considered, the chances are that, before 
many years have passed, a cheerful and busy population will be at 
work again on the flanks of Mont Pelee. 

MOUNT ETNA 

On the eastern coast of the Island of Sicily, and not far from 
the sea, rises in solitary grandeur Mount Etna, the largest and 
highest of European volcanoes. Its height above the level of the 
sea is a little over 10,870 feet, considerably above the limit of per- 
petual snow. It accordingly presents the striking phenomenon of 
volcanic vapors ascending from a snow-clad summit. The base of 
the mountain is eighty-seven miles in circumference, and nearly 
circular; but there is a wide additional extent all around over- 
spread by its lava. The lower portions of the mountain are 
exceedingly fertile, and richly adorned with corn-fields, vineyards, 
olive-groves and orchards. Above this region are extensive forests, 
chiefly of oak, chesnut, and pine, with here and l;here clumps of 
cork-trees and beech. In this forest region are grassy glades, which 
afford rich pasture to numerous flocks. Above the forest lies a 
volcanic desert, covered with black lava and slag. Out of this 
region, which is comparatively flat, rises the principal cone, about 
;i,ioo feet in height, having on its summit the crater, whence sul- 
phurous vapors are continually evolved. 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROM SOU 477 

The great height of Etna has exerted a remarkable influence 
on its general conformation : for the volcanic forces have rarely 
been of sufficient energy to throw the lava quite up to the crater 
at the summit. The consequence has been, that numerous subsi- 
diary craters and cones have been formed all around the flanks of 
the mountain, so that it has become rather a cluster of volcanoes 
than a single volcanic cone. 

The eruptions of this mountain have been numerous, records 
of them extending back to several centuries before the Christian 
era, while unrecorded ones doubtless took place much further back. 
After the beginning of the Christian era, and more especially after 
the breaking forth of Vesuvius in 79 a. d., Etna enjoyed longer 
intervals of repose. Its eruptions since that time have neverthe- 
less been numerous — more especially during the intervals when 
Vesuvius was inactive — there being a sort of alternation between 
the periods of great activity of the two mountains ; although 
there are not a few instances of their having been both in action 
at the same time. 

SIMILARITY IN ETNa's ERUPTIONS 

There is a great similarity in the character of the eruptions of 
Etna. Earthquakes presage the outburst, loud explosions follow, 
rifts and bocche delftioco open in the sides of the mountain ; smoke, 
sand, ashes and scoriae are discharged, the action localizes itself in 
one or more craters, cinders are thrown up and accumulate around 
the crater and cone, ultimately lava rises and frequently breaks 
down one side of the cone where the resistance is least ; then the 
eruption is at an end. 

Smyth says : " The symptoms which precede an eruption aref 
generally irregular clouds of sv[idkQ,ferilli or volcanic lightnings, 



278 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 



hollow intonations and local earthquakes that often alarm the sur- 
rounding country as far as Messina, and have given the whole pro* 
vince the name of Val Demone, as being the abode of infernal 
spirits. These agitations increase until the vast cauldron becomes 
surcharged with the fused minerals, when, if the convulsion is not 
sufficiently powerful to force them from the great crater (which, 
from its great altitude and the weight of the candent matter, 








MOUNT ETNA 



requires an uncommon effort), they explode through that part of 
the side which offers the least resistance with a grand and terrific 
effect, throwing red-hot stones and flakes of fire to an incredible 
height, and spreading ignited cinders and ashes in every direction." 
After the eruption of ashes, lava frequently follows, sometimes 
rising to the top of the cone of cinders, at others disrupting it on 
the least resisting side. When the lava has reached the base of 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 279 

the cone it begins to flow down the mountain, and, being then in a 
very fluid state, it moves with great velocity. As it cools, the sides 
and surface begin to harden, its velocity decreases, and after 
several days it moves only a few yards an hour. The internal 
portions, however, part slowly with their heat, and months after 
the eruption clouds of steam arise from the black and exter- 
nally cold lava-beds after rain ; which, having penetrated through 
the cracks, has found its way to the heated mass within. 

THE ERUPTION OF 1 669 

The most memorable of the eruptions of Etna was that which 
elevated the double cone of Monte Rossi and destroyed a large 
part of the city of Catania. It happened in the year 1669, and 
was preceded by an earthquake, which overthrew the town of Nico- 
losi, situated ten miles inland from Catania, and about twenty miles 
from the top of Etna. The eruption began with the sudden open- 
ing of an enormous fissure, extending from a little way above 
Nicolosi to within about a mile of the top of the principal cone, 
its length being twelve miles, its average breadth six feet, its depth 
unknown. 

We have a more detailed account of this eruption than of any 
preceding one, as it was observed by men of science from various 
countries. The account from which we select is that of Alfonso 
Borelli, Professor of Mathematics in Catania. 

From the fissure above mentioned, he says, there came a 
bright light. Six mouths opened in a line with it and emitted vast 
columns of smoke, accompanied by loud bellowings which could be 
heard forty miles off. Towards the close of the day a crater 
opened about a mile below the others, which ejected red-hot stones 
to a considerable distance, and afterward sand and ashes which 



2go VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

covered the country for a distance of sixty miles. The new crater 
soon vomited forth a torrent of lava which presented a front of two 
miles ; it encircled Monpilieri, and afterward flowed towards Bel- 
passo, a town of 8,000 inhabitants, which was speedily destroyed. 
Seven mouths of fire opened around the new crater, and in three 
days united with it, forming one large crater 800 feet in diameter. 
All this time the torrent of lava continued to descend, it destroying 
the town of Mascalucia on the 23d of March. On the same day 
the crater cast up great quantities of sand, ashes and scoriae, and 
formed above itself the great double-coned hill now called Monte 
Rossi, from the red color of the ashes of which it is mainly com- 
posed. 

VILLAGES AND CITIES BURIED 

On the 25th very violent earthquakes occurred, and the cone 
above the great central crater was shaken down into the crater for 
the fifth time since the first century A. D. The original current of 
lava divided into three streams, one of which destroyed San Pietro, 
the second Camporotondo, and the third the lands about Masca- 
lucia and afterward the village of Misterbianco. Fourteen villages 
were altogether destroyed, and the lava flowed toward Catania. 
At Albanelli, two miles from the city, it undermined a hill covered 
with cornfields and carried it forward a considerable distance. A 
vineyard was also seen to be floating on its fiery surface. When 
the lava reached the walls of Catania, it accumulated without pro-^ 
gression until it rose to the top of the wall, 60 feet in height, and 
it then fell over in a fiery cascade and overwhelmed a part of the 
city. Another portion of the same stream threw down 1 20 feet of 
the wall and flowed into the city. 

On the 23d of April the lava reached the sea, which it entered 
as a stream 600 yards broad and 40 feet deep. The stream had 



o n H- 1 





EXCAVATED RUINS OF POMPEII. 
Vesuvius in the background. 




A STREET IN POMPEII. 
Showing walls and pavement in the streets as found after excavations were made. 




INTERIOR OF A STEAMSHIP AT ST. PIERRE, AFTER THE 

WHIRLWIND OF FIRE. 

This remarkable photograph shows the scathing power of volcanic fire when 

belched forth on the works of man. 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOU 281 

moved at the rate of thirteen miles in twenty days, but as it cooled 
it moved less quickly, and during the last twenty-three days of its 
course, it advanced only two miles. On reaching the sea the water, of 
course, began to boil violently, and clouds of steam arose, carrying 
with them particles of scoriae. Towards the end of April the 
stream on the west side of Catania, which had appeared to be con- 
solidated, again burst forth, and flowed into the garden of the 
Benedictine Monastery of San Niccola, and then branched off into 
the city. Attempts were made to build walls to arrest its progress. 
An attempt of another kind was made by a gentleman of 
Catania, named Pappalardo, who took fifty men with him, having 
previously provided them with skins for protection from the intense 
heat and with crowbars to effect an opening in the lava. They 
pierced the solid outer crust of solidified lava, and a rivulet of the 
molten interior immediately gushed out and flowed in the direction 
of Paterno, whereupon 500 men of that town, alarmed for its 
safety, took up arms and caused Pappalardo and his men to desist. 
The lava did not altogether stop for four months, and two years 
after it had ceased to flow it was found to be red hot beneath the 
surface. Even eight years after the eruption quantities of steam 
escaped from the lava after a shower of rain. 

THE STONES EJECTED 

The stones which were ejected from the crater during this 
eruption were often of considerable magnitude, and Borelli calcu- 
lated that the diameter of one which he saw was 50 feet ; it was 
thrown to a distance of a mile, and^^ as it fell it penetrated the 
earth to a depth of 23 feet. The volume of lava emitted during 
the eruption amounted to many millions of cubic feet. Ferara 
considers that the length of the stream was at least fifteen miles, 



28a VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

while its average width was between two and three miles, so that it 
covered at least forty square miles of surface. 

Among the towns overflowed by this great eruption was Mom- 
pilieri. Thirty-five years afterward, in 1704, an excavation was 
made on the site of the principal church of this place, and at the 
depth of thirty-five feet the workmen came upon the gate, which 
was adorned with three statues. From under an arch which had 
been formed by the lava, one of these statues, with a bell and some 
coins, were extracted in good preservation. This fact is remark- 
able ; for in a subsequent eruption, which happened in 1 766, a hill 
about fifty feet in height, being surrounded on either side by two 
streams of lava, was in a quarter of an hour swept along by the 
current. The latter event may be explained by supposing that the 
hill in question was cavernous in its structure, and that the lava, 
penetrating into the cavities, forced asunder their walls, and so 
detached the superincumbent mass from its supports. 

It is not by its streams of fire alone that Etna ravages the val- 
leys and plains at its base. It sometimes also deluges them with 
great floods of water. On the 2d of March, 1755, two streams of 
lava, issuing from the highest crater, were at once precipitated on 
an enormous mass of very deep snow, which then clothed the sum- 
mit. These fiery currents ran through the snow to a distance of 
three miles, melting it as they flowed. The consequence was, that a 
tremendous torrent of water rushed down the sides of the mountain, 
carrying with it vast quantities of sand, volcanic cinders and blocks 
of lava, with which it overspread the flanks of the mountain and 
the plains beneath, which it devastated in its course. 

The volume of water was estimated at 16,000,000 cubic feet, 
it forming a channel two miles broad and in some places thirty-four 
feet deep, and flowing at the rate of two-thirds of a mile in a minute. 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 283 

All the winter's snow on the mountain could not have yielded such a 
flood, and Lyell considered that it melted older layers of ice which 
had been preserved under a covering of volcanic dust. 

ETNA IN 1 81 9 

Another great eruption took place in 18 19, which presented 
some peculiarities. Near the point whence the highest stream of 
lava issued in 181 1, there were opened three large mouths, which, 
with loud explosions, threw up hot cinders and sand, illuminated 
by a strong glare from beneath. Shortly afterwards there was 
opened, a little lower down, another mouth, from which a similar 
eruption took place ; and still farther down there soon appeared 
a fifth, whence there flowed a torrent of lava which rapidly spread 
itself over the Val del Bove. During the first forty-eight hours it 
flowed nearly four miles, when it received a great accession. The 
three original mouths became united into one large crater, from 
which, as well as from the other two mouths below, there poured 
forth a vastly augmented torrent of lava, which rushed with great 
impetuosity down the same valley. 

During its progress over this gentle slope, it acquired the usual 
crust of hardened slag. It directed its course towards that point at 
which Val del Bove opens into the narrow ravine beneath it — there 
being between the two a deep and almost perpendicular precipice. 
Arrived at this point, the lava-torrent leaped over the precipice in 
a vast cascade, and with a thundering noise, arising chiefly from 
the crashing and breaking up of the solid crust, which was in a great 
measure pounded to atoms by the fall ; it throwing up such vast 
clouds of dust as to awaken an alarm that a fresh eruption had 
begun at this place, which is within the wooded regioh. 



284 VESUVIUS. ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

A very violent eruption, which lasted more than nine months, 
commenced on the 21st of August, 1852. It was first witnessed by 
a party of English tourists, who were ascending the mountain from 
Nicolosi in order to see the sunrise from the summit. As they 
approached the Casa Inglesi the crater commenced to give forth 
ashes and flames of fire. In a narrow defile they were met by a 
violent hurricane, which overthrew both the mules and their riders, 
and urged them toward the precipices of the Val del Bove. They 
sheltered themselves beneath some masses of lava, when suddenly 
an earthquake shook the mountain, and their mules in terror fled 
away. As day approached they returned on foot to Nicolosi, for- 
tunately without having sustained injury. In the course of the 
night many bocche del fuoco (small lava vents) opened in that part 
of the Val del Bove called the Bazo di Trifoglietto, a great fissure 
opened at the base of the Giannicola Grande, and a crater was 
thrown up from which for seventeen days showers of sand and 
scorise were ejected. 

EFFECT OF THE ERUPTION 

During the next day a quantity of lava flowed down the Val 
del Bove, branching off so that one stream advanced to the foot of 
Monte Finocchio, and the other to Monte Calanna. Afterwards it 
flowed towards Zaffarana, and devastated a large tract of wooded 
region. Four days later a second crater was formed near the first, 
from which lava was emitted, together with sand and scorise, which 
caused cones to arise around the craters. The lava moved but 
slowly, and towards the end of August it came to a stand, only g 
quarter of a mile from Zaffarana. 

On the second of September, Gemellaro ascended Monte 
Finocchio in the Val del Bove in order to witness the outburst. 
He states that the hill was violently agitated, like a ship at sea 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 285 

The surface of the Val del Bove appeared Hke a molten lake; 
scoriae were thrown up from the craters to a great height, and loud 
explosions were heard at frequent intervals. The eruption con- 
tinued to increase in violence. On October 6 two new mouths 
opened in the Val del Bove, emitting lava which fl )wed towards 
the valley of Calanna, and fell over the Salto della Giumenta, a 
precipice nearly 200 feet deep. The noise which it produced was 
like that of a clash of metallic masses. The eruption continued 
with abated violence during the early months of 1853, and it did 
not finally cease till May 27. The entire mass of lava ejected is 
estimated to have been equal to an area six miles long by two miles 
broad, with an average depth of about twelve feet. 

This eruption was one of the grandest of all the known erup- 
tions of Etna. During its outflow more than 2,cx30,ooo,ooo cubic 
feet of molten lava was spread out over a space of three square 
miles. There have been several eruptions since its date, but none 
of marked prominence, though the mountain is rarely quiescent for 
any lengthened period. 

THE LIPARI VOLCANOES 

South-eastward of Ischia, between Calabria and Sicily, the 
Lipari Islands arrest attention for the volcanic phenomena they 
present. On one of these is Mount Vulcano, or Volcano, from 
which all this class of mountains is named. At present the best 
known of the Lipari volcanoes is StromboH, which consists of a 
single mountain, having a very obtuse conical form. It has on one 
side of it several small craters, of which only one is at present in 
a state of activity. 

The total height of the mountain is about 2000 feet, and the 
principal crater is situated at about two-thirds of the height 
StromboH is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It is 



286 VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 

mentioned as being in a state of activity by several writers before 
the Christian era, and the commencement of its operations extends 
into the past beyond the limits of tradition. Since history began 
its action has never wholly ceased, although it may have varied 
in intensity from time to time. 

It has been observed that the violence of its eruptive force 
has a certain dependence on the weather — being always most 
intense when the barometer is lowest. From the position of the 
crater, it is possible to ascend the mountain and look down upon 
it from above. Even when viewed in this manner, it presents 
a very striking appearance. While there is an uninterrupted con- 
tinuance of small explosions, there is a frequent succession of more 
violent eruptions, at intervals varying in length from seven to fif- 
teen minutes. 

HOFFMAN AT STROMBOLI 

Several eminent observers have approached quite close to the 
crater, and examined it narrowly. One of these was M. Hoffman, 
who visited it in 1828. 

This eminent geologist, while having his legs held by his com- 
panions, stretched his head over the precipice, and, looking right 
down into the mouth of one of the vents of the crater immedi- 
ately under him, watched the play of liquid lava within it. Its 
surface resembled molten silver, and was constantly rising and fall- 
ing at regular intervals. A bubble of white vapor rose and 
escaped, with a decrepitating noise, at each ascent of the lava — 
tossing up red-hot fragments of scoria, which continued dancing up 
and down with a sort of rhythmic play upon the surface. At inter- 
vals of fifteen minutes or so, there was a pause in these movements. 
Then followed a loud report, while the ground trembled, and there 
rose to the surface of the lava an immense bubble of vapor. This, 



VESUVIUS, ETNA AND STROMBOLI 287 

bursting with a crackling noise, threw out to the height of about 
1200 feet large quantities of red-hot stones and scoriae, which, des- 
cribing parabolic curves, fell in a fiery shower all around. After 
another brief repose, the more moderate action was resumed as 
before. 

Lipari, a neighboring volcano, was formerly more active than 
Stromboli, though for centuries past it has been in a state of com- 
plete quiescence. The Island of Volcano lies south of Lipari. Its 
crater was active before the Christian era, and still emits sulphurous 
and other vapors. At present its main office is to serve as a sul- 
phur mine. Thus the peak which gives title to all fire-breathing 
mountains has become a servant to man. So are the mighty fallen \ 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Vesuvius Devastates the Region of Naples. 

WE have in other chapters described the terrible work of 
Mount Vesuvius in the past, from the far-off era of the 
destruction of Pompeii down to the end of the last century. 
There comes before us now another frightful eruption, one of the 
greatest in its history, that of 1906. For thirty years before this 
outbreak the mighty volcano had been comparatively quiet, rarely 
ceasing, indeed, to smoke and fume, but giving little indication of 
the vast forces buried in its heart. It showed some sympathy with 
Mont Pelee in 1902, and continued restless after that time, but it 
was not until about the middle of February, 1906, that it became 
threatening, lava beginning to overflow from the crater and make 
its lurid way down the mountain's side. 

It was in the middle of the first week of April that these indi- 
cations rose to the danger point, the flow of lava suddenly swelling 
from a rivulet to a river, pouring in a gleaming flood over the 
crater's rim, and meeting the other streams that came streaming 
down the volcano's rugged flank. While this went on the mountain 
remained comparatively quiet, there being no explosions, though 
a huge cloud of volcanic ash and cinders lose high in the air until 
it hung over the crater in the shape of an enormous pine tree, while 
from it a shower of dust and sand, soon to become terrible, began 

to descend upon the surrounding fields and towns. 

(288) 



Vesuvius devastates Naples , 289 

Dangerous as is Vesuvius at any time, the people of the vicinity 
dare its perils for the allurement of its fertile soil. A ring of 
populous villages encircles it, flourishing vineyards and olive groves 
extend on all sides, and the hand of industry does not hesitate to 
attack its threatening flanks. The intervals between its death- 
dealing throes are so long that the peasants are always ready to dare 
destruction for the hope of winning the means of life from its soil. 

THE RIVERS OF LAVA. 

All this locality was now a field of terror and death. Down 
on the vineyards and villages poured the smothering ashes in an 
ever increasing rain; toward them slowly and threateningly 
crawled the fiery serpents of the lava streams; and from their 
homes fled thousands of the terror-stricken people, frantic with 
horror and dismay. A number of populous villages were threat- 
ened by the lurid lava streams, the most endangered being Bosco 
Trecase, with its 10,000 inhabitants. To^wv d this devoted town 
poured steadily the irresistible flood of molten rock. The soldiers 
who had been hurried to the front sought to divert its flow by 
digging a wide ditch across its course and throwing up a high bank 
of earth, but they worked in vain. The demon of destruction was 
not to be robbed of its prey. The liquid stream advanced like a 
colossal serpent of fire, turning its head like a crawling snake to 
the right and left, but keeping steadily on toward the fated town. 
The ditch was filled; the bank gave way; the first house was 
reached and burst into flames; the creeping stream of fire pushed 

on to the next houses in its way; only then did the despairing 

19 



290 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

people desert their homes and flee for their Hves, carrying with 
them the little they could snatch of their treasured possessions. 

F. Marion Crawford, the novelist, who was present at this 
scene, thus describes the flight of the terrified people : 

"I saw men, women and children and infants, whose mothers 
carried them at the breast or in their aprons, fleeing in an endless 
procession. Dogs, too, and cats were on the carts, and sometimes 
even chickens, tied together by the legs, and piles of mattresses and 
pillows and shapeless bundles of clothes. All were white with dust. 
Under the lurid .glare I saw one old woman lying on her back across 
a cart, ghastly white and, if not dead already of fear and heat and 
suffocation, certainly almost gone. We ourselves could hardly 
breathe." 

It was on Saturday, the 7th, that Bosco Trecase became the 
prey of the river of molten rock. During that night and the fol- 
lowing day the crisis of the eruption came. The observatory on the 
mountain side was occupied by Professor Matteucci, his assistant, 
Professor Perret, of New York, and two domestics, all others having 
been sent away. Their description of the scene in which they found 
themselves is vividly picturesque. At midnight the situation in 
the observatory was terrible. The forces of the earthquake were 
let loose and the ground rocked so that it was almost impossible 
to stand. The roaring of the main crater was deafening, while the 
volcano poured forth its contents like a fountain, and the electric 
display was terrifying, constant claps of thunder following the 
lurid flashes of lightning, which gave the sky a blood-red hue. 

Shortly after three o'clock in the morning the explosive energy 
of the mighty mass culminated. The whole cone burst open with 



VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 291 

a tremendous earthquake shock, from the heart of the recently 
silent mountain came a deafening roar, and red-hot rocks, like 
the balls from nature's mighty artillery, were hurled a half mile 
into the air, while a dense mass of ashes and sand was flung to 
three or four times this height. All the next day the terrible 
detonation kept up, and a hail of bullet-like stones poured downward 
from the skies. Rarely has a more terrible Sunday been seen. It 
was as if the demons of earth and air were let loose and were 
seeking to destroy man and his puny works. 

THE CRISIS OF THE ERUPTION. 

This frightful explosion of the 8th of April was the worst of 
the dreadful display of volcanic forces, but the work kept up with 
diminishing intensity much of the following week. The ashes and 
cinders continued to pour down in suffocating showers, covering 
the ground to a depth of four or five feet in the vicinity of the 
volcano and to a considerable depth at Naples, ten miles away. The 
sun disappeared behind the thick cloud that filled the air, and the 
scene resembled that described by Pliny more than eighteen hun- 
dred years before. 

Of Bosco Trecase nothing was left but the large stone church 
'and a few houses. Another river of lava reached the outskirts of 
Torre del Greco, and a third stopped at the cemetery of Torre 
Annunziata. Those towns escaped, but thousands of acres of 
fertile cultivated land, with farm houses and stock, were destroyed. 
The peninsular railway up the mountain was ruined and the large 
hotel burned. One writer tells the following tale of v\^hat he saw 
on that fatal Saturday and Sunday: 



292 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

"On the road I met hundreds of families in flight, carrying 
their few miserable possessions. The spectacle of collapsing carts 
and fainting women was frequently seen. When one reached the 
lava stream a stupefying spectacle presented itself. From a point 
on the mountain between the towns I saw four rivers of molten 
fire, one of which, 200 feet wide and over 40 deep, was moving 
slowly and majestically onward, devouring vineyards and olive 
groves. I witnessed the destruction of a farm house enveloped on 
three sides by lava. Immediately overhead the great crater was 
belching incandescent rock and scoria for an incredible distance. 
The whole scene was wreathed with flames, and a perpetual roar 
was heard. Ever and anon the cone of the volcano was encircled 
with vivid electric phenomena, amid which a downpour of liquid 
fire on all sides of the crater was revealed in magnificent awfulness. 
In the evening there was a frightful shock of earthquake, which 
was repeated at two o'clock on Sunday morning. Simultaneously 
the lava streams redoubled their onrush, and men, women and 
children fled precipitately toward the sea. The lava had invaded 
the road behind them." 

A REIGN OF TERROR. 

The great loss of life was due to the vast fa J o^ ashes, which 
crushed in hundreds of roofs and buried the occupants within the 
ruins of their homes. In all the neighboring towns buildings were 
destroyed in great numbers, an early estimate being that fully 5,000 
houses had been partly crushed or utterly destroyed. On the 
Ottajano side of the mountain, where the ashes fell in greatest pro- 



l^BSUVIUS DEVASJAlEb NAPLES 293 

fusion, all the houses of the villages were damaged, and Ottajano 
itself was left a w^-eck, several hundred dead bodies being taken 
from its ruins. In Naples the ash fall was so incessant that those 
who could afford it wore automobile coats, caps and goggles, while 
the people generally sought to save their eyes and faces by the aid 
of paper masks and umbrellas. The drivers of trolley cars were 
obliged to wear masks of some transparent material under the 
vizors of their caps. 

DISASTERS AT SAN GIUSEPPE AND NAPLES. 

There were two special disasters attended by serious loss of 
life. On the 9th, while a congregation of two hundred or more 
v/ere attending mass in the church at San Giuseppe, the roof crushed 
in from the weight of ashes upon it and fell upon the worshippers 
below, few^ or none of whom escaped unhurt. Fifty-four dead bodies 
were taken from the ruins and a large number were severely injured. 
The Mayor of the town was dismissed from his office for leaving 
his post of duty in the face of danger. 

The second disaster, one of the same character, took place at 
Naples. This was on Tuesday, April loth. Just previous to it 
the people had been marching in religious processions through the 
streets, to render thanks for the apparent cessation of the activity 
of Vesuvius. Motley but picturesque processions were these, headed 
by boys carrying candles, which burned simply in the full sunshine 
and bearing aloft images of the Madonna or saints, clad in gorgeous 
robes of cheap blue or yellow satin. Their joy was suddenly changed 
to grief by tidings of a frightful disaster. The roof of the Monte 



294 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

Oliveto market, fronting on the Toledo, the main thoroughfare, had 
suddenly crushed in, burying more than 200 people beneath its 
heavy fall. 

The market had been crowded with buyers and their children, 
and it was the busiest hours of the day in the great roofed court- 
yard, covering a space 600 feet square, when, with scarcely a 
tremor of warning, there came a frightful crash and a dense cloud 
of dust covered the scene, from out of which came heartrencimg 
screams of agony. The volcanic ash which, unnoticed, had gathered 
thickly on the roof, had broken it in by its weight. 

The news set the people frantic with grief and indignation. 
They insisted that the authorities knew that the roof was unsafe 
and had neglected their duty. Cursing and screaming in their 
intense excitement, they surrounded the market, endeavoring with 
frantic haste to remove the heavy beams from beneath which came 
the appealing calls for help, many of the rescuers sobbing aloud as 
they worked. It required a large force of police and soldiers to 
keep them back and permit the firemen and other trained workers to 
carry on more systematically the work of relief. Tvv^elve persons 
proved to have been killed, two fatally injured, twenty-four seriously 
hurt and over a hundred badly bruised and cut. Among these were 
many children, whose parents had sent them to do the marketing 
without a dream of danger, and the grief of the parents was intense. 
The Duke of Aosta, Prefect of Naples, directed the work of rescue, 
wMe his wife assisted in the care of the injured. As the Duchess 
bent in the hospital to give a cooling drink to a badly bruised little 
girl she felt a kiss upon her hand. Looking down, she saw a woman 



VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 295 

kneeling at her feet, who gratefully said: "Your Excellency, she 
is all I have. I am a widow. May God reward you." 

While this scene of horror was taking place in Naples the 
fate of the town and villages grouped around the foot of the 
volcano seemed as hopeless as ever. Early on the loth the showers 
of ashes and streams of lava diminished and almost ceased, but 
later the same day they began again, and the terrified inhabitants 
feared that a catastrophe like that which buried Pompeii and Hercu- 
laneum was about to visit them. The lava which reached the 
cemetery of Torre Annunziata turned in the direction of Pompeii 
as if to freshly entomb that exhumed city of the past. A violent 
storm of sulphurous rain fell at San Giuseppe, Vesuviana and 
Sariano, and on all sides the fall of sand and ashes came on again 
in full strength. Even with the sun shining high in the heavens 
the light was a dim yellow, in the midst of which the few persons 
who still haunted the stricken towns moved about in the awful 
stillness of desolation like gray ghosts, their clothing, hair and 
beards covered with ashes. 

THE ERUPTION RESUMED. 

A typical case was that of Torre del Greco. Though for thirty 
hours the place had been deserted, a few ghostly figures could be 
seen at intervals when the vivid flashes of lightning illuminated 
the gloom-covered scene, wandering desolutely about, hungry and 
thirsty, their throats parched by smoke and dust, yet unable to tear 
themselves away from the ruins of their late comfortable homes. 

So deep was the ash fall that railway or tramway travel to 
the inner circle of towns was impossible, and the great depth of 



296 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

fallen dust choked the roads so as to render travel by carriage or on 
foot very difficult. A party of officials made a tour of inspection by 
automobile, visiting a number of the town, but were prevented by 
the state of the roads from reaching others. Ottajano was thus 
cut off from travel, and a heavy fall of ashes followed the officials 
in their retreat. At Bosco Trecase the lava had gathered into a 
lake, already growing solid on top, but a mass of liquid rock 
beneath. 

The lava carried vast masses of burnt stone and sulphur on 
its surface, like dross on melted lead, and nothing was visible 
toward Bosco Trecase but endless acres of dark scoriae, broken 
here and there by the greenish, curling smoke of sulphur. At one 
point a great cone pine tree, torn up hy its roots and turned to 
black charcoal, stuck out of the mass at a sharp angle. The air 
was almost unbearable^ the heat intense, and few could long bear 
the dangers and discomfort of the situation. 

SCENES OF HORROR. 

The greatest depth of ashes encountered was in the vicinitv 
of Ottajano. Here large areas were buried to a depth of several 
feet. Soldiers had been sent there with military carts, carrying 
provisions and surgical appliances, with orders to lend their aid 
in the work of relief. They found it almost impossible to make 
their way through the deep fine dust, and the tales of horror and 
heroism they had to tell resembled those that must of old have 
been borne to Rome by the fleeing inhabitants of Pompeii. 

Efforts were made to remove the children and old persons in 
the carts, but when these had gone a few hundred feet it was found 
that, although there were four horses harnessed to each vehicle. 



VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 297 

they could not pull their loads through the ashes. This caused a 
panic among the children, who expected to be buried in the incessant 
fall from the volcano, and they fled in all directions in the darkness 
and blinding rain. Searching parties went after them, but in spite 
of continuous shouting and calling no trace was found of the little 
ones,^nd numbers of the children were undoubtedly smothered by 
the ashes and sand. 

Many of the inhabitants had been buried in the ruins of their 
houses, and the scenes when the victims were unearthed were often 
piteous and terrible. The positions of the bodies showed that the 
victims had died while in a state of great terror, the faces being 
convulsed with fear. Three bodies were found in a confessional 
of one of the fallen churches. One body was that of an old woman 
who was sitting with her right arm raised as though to ward off 
the advancing danger. The second was that of a child about eight 
years old. It was found dead in a position which would indicate 
that the child had fallen with a little dog close to it and had died 
with one arm raised across its face, to protect itself and pet from 
the crumbling ruins. The third body, that of a woman, was reduced 
to an unrecognizable mass. These three victims were reverently 
laid side by side while a procession of friends and relatives offered 
up prayers beside them. 

One soldier rode his horse through the ashes reaching up to 
its flanks, calling out, "Who wants help?" He was rewarded by 
hearing a woman's voice reply in weak tones and, springing from 
his horse, he floundered through the ashes to the ruined walls of a 
house from which the voice seemed to come. As he made his way 
through the soft, treacherous layer of scoriae which surrounded 
the destroyed habitation, and with difliculty worked his way 



29S VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

toward the building the soldier shouted words of encouragement 
and, climbing over a heap of ruins and braving a toppling wall, 
entered the building. In the cellar he found the bodies of three 
children. Near them was a woman, barely alive, who by almost 
superhuman efforts for hours had succeeded in freeing herself from 
a mass of debris which had fallen upon her. The soldier picked 
the woman up in his arms and carried her to a place of safety. It 
was found that both legs were broken and that she had been badly 
crushed about the body. 

Some extraordinary escapes from death took place. A man and 
his four children were rescued after having been lost in the ash- 
covered wilderness for fifty-six hours. They were terribly ex- 
hausted, and were reduced almost to skeletons. 

Robert Underwood Johnson, one of the editors of the "Century 
Magazine, who happened to be in Rome at the time of the eruption, 
made one of a party who ventured as near the scene of destruction 
as they could safely approach. From his graphic story of his 
experiences we copy some of the most interesting details. 

AN AMERICAN OBSERVER. 

"We caught a train for Torre Annunziata, three miles this 
side of Pompeii and two miles from the southern end of the wedge 
of lava which destroyed Bosco Trecase. We had a magnificent 
view of the eruption, eight miles away. Rising at an angle of fifty 
degrees, the vast mass of tumult roundness was beautifully accen- 
tuated by the full moon, shifting momentarily into new forms and 
drifting south in low, black clouds of ashes and cinders reaching to 
Capri. At Torre del Greco we ran under this terrifying pall, 
apparently a hundred feet above, the solidity of which was soon 



VE5 U V I U S DEVASTA 7 ES NA PLhb 299 

revealed in ':h^ inoonlight. The torches of the railway guards 
added to the effect, but greatly -"eiieved the sulphurous darkness. 

"We reached Torre Annunziata at three in the morning. There 
was little suggestion of a disaster as we trudged through the sleep- 
ing town to the lava, two miles away. The brilliant .noon gave us 
a superb view of the volcano, a gray-brown mass rising, expanding 
and curling in with a profile like a monstrous cyclopean face. But 
nothing in mythology gives a suggestion of the fascination of this 
awful force, presenting the sublime beauty above, but in its descent 
filled with the mysterious malignance of God's underworld. 

"We reached the lava at a picturesque cypress-planted ceme- 
tery on the northern boundary of Torre Annunziata. It was as if 
the dead had effectually cried out to arrest the crushing river of 
flames which pitilessly engulfed the statue of St. Anne with which 
the people of Bosco Reale tried to stay it, as at Catania the veil of 
St. Agathe is said to have stayed a similar stream from Mount Etna. 

"We climbed on the lava. It was cool above but still alive with 
fire below. We could see dimly the extent of the destruction beyond 
the barrier of brown which had enclosed the streets, torn down the 
houses, invaded the vineyards and broken Cook's railways. A 
better idea of the surroundings was obtained at dawn from the 
railway. We saw north what was left of Bosco Trecase — a great, 
square stone church and a few houses inland in a sea of dull, brown 
lava. North and east rose a thousand patches of blue smoke like 
swamp miasma. All was dull and desolate slag, with nowhere the 
familiar serpentine forms of the old lava streams. In terrible 
contrast with the volcanic evidences were strong cypresses and 
blooming camelias in a neighboring cemetery. 

"We ate. a hasty luncheon before sunrise, when the great beauty 



300 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES ' 

of the scene was revealed. The column now seemed higher and 
more massive, rising to three times the height of Vesuvius. Each 
portion had a concentric motion and new aspects. The south edges 
floating toward the sea showed exquisite curved surfaces, due to the 
upper moving current. It was like the decoration of the side of a 
great sarcophagus. As a yellow dust hangs over Naples and hides 
the volcano, I count myself fortunate to have seen all day from 
leeward this spectacle of changing, imdiminishing beauty. 

"The wedge of cultivated land ruined east of the volcano 
extended at least ten miles, with a width of twenty or thirty miles. 
Fancy a rich and thickly populated country of vineyards lying under 
three to six inches of ashes and cinders of the color of chocolate 
with milk, while above, to the west, the volcano in full activity is 
distributing to the outer edges of the circle the same fate, and you 
will get an idea of the desolate impression of the scene, a tragedy 
colossal and heartrending. Like that of Calabria, it enlists the 
sympathy of the civilized world. It takes time for such a calamity 
to be realized. 

"Two miles below San Giuseppe we struck cinders which the 
soldiers were shoveling, making a narrow road for the refugees. 
Our wagon driver begged off from completing his contract to take 
us to San Giuseppe. We had not the heart to insist, so the rest 
of the journey to the railway at Palma, eight miles, wcs made 
laboriously on foot for three hours through sliding cinders. 

"In many places temporary shelters had been built by the 
roadside, like children's playhouses. Here women were huddled 
with their bedding, awaiting the coming of supplies which the army 
had begun to distribute. The men were largely occupied with 
shoveling" cinders from the stronger roofs and floors into heaps 



VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 301 

three to six feet deep along the roadside. Many two-wheeled carts 
loaded with salvage, drawn by donkeys or pushed by peasants, were 
making their way along, the women with bundles on their heads 
or carrying poultry. 

''In the square of San Giuseppe was an encampment of soldiers, 
with low tents. Near a destroyed church, in coarse yellow linen 
shrouds, were the bodies of thirty-three of the persons who there 
lost their lives. The peasants were sad, but uncomplaining; in 
fact, for so excitable a people they were wonderfully calm. As 
evidence of the thrift and self-respect of these, we were not once 
asked for alms during the afternoon." 

THE KING AT THE FRONT. 

The Italian Government did all it could at the moment to 
alleviate the horrors of the situation, sending money to be expended 
in relief work and dispatching high officials of the government to 
give aid and encouragement by their presence. The King, Victor 
Emmanuel, and Queen Helene reached the scene of destruction as 
early as possible and lent their personal assistance to the work of 
rescue. 

Obliged to leave his automobile, which could not move over 
the cinder-choked road, the King went forward with difficulty on 
horseback, the animal floundering through four feet of ashes, 
stumbling into holes, and half blinded by the fall of dust and cinders. 

"How did you esape?" he asked a priest whom he met in his 
journey. 

"I put myself in safety," was the reply. 

"What do you mean?" asked the King. 

"Realizing the danger, I left Nola." 



302 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

"What!" cried the King, with a flush of anger. "You, a 
minister of God, were not here to share the danger of your people 
and administer the last sacraments? You did very wrong and 
forgot your duty." 

Reaching Ottajano, the King did what he could to expedite^ 
the v/ork of rescue at that central point of disaster, more than a 
hundred dead bodies being taken from the ruins in his presence. 
He stood with set pale face watching the removal of the victims 
and directing the movement of the workers. During his visit at 
the front he inspected the temporary camp hospitals, in which the 
soldiers were caring for the injin-ed and suffering, speaking to the 
poor victims, giving them what comfort he could, and asking what 
he could do to relieve their distress. Every request or desire was 
received with sympathy and orders given to have it fulfilled. 

A pitiful scene took place when the King bent over a poor 
man, whose right leg had been amputated, and asked what he could 
do to comfort and aid him in his affliction. 

"Send me my son, who is serving as a soldier," said the maimed 
peasant. 

The King, visibly affected, clasped the old man's hand and 
exclaimed : 

"My poor fellow! I can do much, but to grant your request 
would mean breaking the laws, which I must be the first to respect. 
I would give anything I have were it possible by so doing to send 
your son to you, but I cannot do so." 

While the King was thus engaged at the scenes of desolation, 
Queen Helene visited the charitable institutions at Naples and 
inspected the places where the refugees were housed, doing what 
she could to improve conditions and add to the comfort of the 



VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 303 

suflferers. The Princess of Schlesvvig-Holstein, who was in Naples, 
made an automohile visit to the afflicted towns, but the motor broke 
down, and she was forced to return on foot, walking a distance of 
twelve miles through the ashes and displaying a power of endur- 
ance that surprised the natives. 

THE CANOPY OF DUST. 

By Friday, April 13th, the eruption vv^as practically at an end. 
Vesuvius had spent itself in the enormous convulsion of the 7th 
and 8th and the subsequent minor explosions and had returned to 
Its normal state, ceasing to give any signs of life, except the cloud 
of smoke which still rose from its crater and spread like a thick 
curtain over and around the mountain. Looked at from Naples, 
there was none of the familiar aspects of the volcano, with its 
output of smoke and ashes by day and fiery gleam by night. Now 
it lay buried in darkness and obscurity, clothed in a dense pall of 
smoke. At Rome there was sunshine, but twenty miles south hung 
a misty veil, and twenty-five miles above Naples a zone of semi- 
obscurity began, blotting out the sun, whose light trickled through 
with a sickly glare. Everything was whitened with powdery dust; 
pretty white villas were daubed and dripping with mud, and people 
were busy shoveling the ashes from their roofs. 

The crowds at the stations resembled millers, their clothes flour 
covered; the Campania presented the appearance of a Dakota 
prairie after a blizzard of snow, though everything was gray instead 
of white. The ashes lay in drifts knee deep. As the volcano was 
approached semi-night replaced the day, the gloom being so deep 
that telegraph poles twenty feet away could not be seen. Breathing 
was difficult, and the smoke made the eyes water. At Naples 



304 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

however, a favorable wind had cleared the air of smoke, the sun 
shone brightly, and the versatile people were happy once more. The 
goggles and eye-screens had disappeared, but the streets were any- 
thing but comfortable, for some six thousand men were at work 
clearing the ashes from the roofs and main streets and piling them 
in the middle of the narrow streets, making the passage of vehicles 
very difficult and the sidewalks far from comfortable for foot 
passengers. 

But while brightness and joy reigned at Naples, there were 
gruesome scenes within the volcanic zone. At Bosco Trecase 
soldiers carried on the work of exhumation, being able to work 
only an hour at a time on account of the advanced stage of decompo- 
sition of the bodies. Many of these were shapeless, unrecognizable 
masses of flesh and bones, while others were little disfigured. To 
lessen the danger of an epidemic the bodies were buried as quickly 
as possible in quicklime. 

On Sunday, the 15th, the searchers at Ottajano were surprised 
at finding two aged women still alive, after six days' entombment 
in the ruins. They were among those who had been buried by the 
falling walls a week before. The rafters of the house had protected 
them, and a few morsels of food in their pockets aided to keep them 
alive. At some points there the ashes were ten feet deep. At San 
Giuseppe bodies of women were found in whose hands were coins 
and jewels, and one woman held a jewelled rosary. This recalls 
the results of exploration at Herculaneum and Pompeii, where were 
similar instances of death overtaking the victims of the volcano 
while fleeing with their jewels in their hands. 

It is interesting to learn that two men stood heroically to their 
post of duty during the whole scene of the explosion, Professor 



VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 305 

Matteucci, Director of the Royal Observatory, and his Americar 
assistant, Professor Frank A. Perret, of New A^ork. Though tl, 
building occupied by them was exposed to the full force of the rain 
of stones from the burning mountain, they remained undauntedly 
at their post through that week of terror. On the 14th some of that 
venturesome fraternity, the newspaper correspondents, reached 
their eyrie on the highest habitable point on Vesuvius and heard 
the story of their experiences. 

THE HEROES OF THE OBSERVATORY. 

For several days Professors Matteucci and Perret and their 
two servants had been cut off from the outside world and bombarded 
by the volcano, their rations consisting of bread, cheese and dried 
onions, until on Frida}^ a hardy guide was induced to push through 
to them with some provisions. During the eruption the Professor 
had kept at his instruments, taking observations day and night and 
making calculations in the midst of the inferno. Roughly dressed, 
he looked like a Western cowboy after a hard ride in a dust storm. 
The portico where he stood was knee deep in ashes, and from the 
observatory terrace narrow paths had been cut through the ashes, 
but as far as the eye could reach an ocean of ashes and twisted 
rivers were alone visible, with Vesuvius rising grimly in the midst. 
The great monster was enveloped in a cloak of white, as if buried 
under a snowstorm, its surface being here and there slit with 
gulches in which lava ran. At the bottom of one of those gulches 
lay the wrecked remnants of the peninsular railway, a portion of 
its twisted cable protruding through the ashes. As the corre- 
spondents ascended the mountain they were surprised by the appa- 
rition of natives, men wrinkled with age, who emerged from dug- 



3o6 VESUVIUS DEVASTATES NAPLES 

outs just below the observatory and offered them milk and eggs, 
just as if they were ordinary visitors to the volcano. As they 
descended they heard the sound of a mandolin from one of these 
dugouts. Evidently Vesuvius had no terrors for these case-hard- 
ened veterans. 

We have already told the story gleaned by the correspondents 
from the daring scientists. Matteucci completed his record of 
boldness on Friday, the 13th, by climbing to a point far above the 
observatory, at the imminent risk of his life, to observe the condi- 
tions then existing. From what he say he believed the end of the 
disturbance near, though he did not A^enture to predict. As for 
the ashes, which a light wind was then blowing in a direction away 
from Naples, he said : ''The ill wind is now blowing good to other 
places, for ashes are the best fertilizer it is possible to use. It is 
merely a question just now of having too much of a good thing." 

This is a fact so far as the volcanic ash is concerned. An 
examination of the ashes a few days ago shows that they will prove 
an active and valuable fertilizer. The fertile slopes of Vesuvius 
have ever been an allurement to the vine-grower, four crops a year 
being a temptation no possible danger could drive him from, and as 
soon as the mountain grows surely peaceful after this eruption, we 
shall find its farmers risking again the chance of its uncertain 
temper. But this is not the case with the land covered with lava 
and cinders. Time for their disintegration is necessary before they 
can be brought under cultivation, and this is a matter of years. 
After the great eruption of 1871-72 the land covered with cinders 
did not bear crops for seven years, and there is no reason that they 
will do so sooner on the present occasion. So for years to come much 
of the volcanic soil must remain a barren and desert void. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Skaptar Jokull and Hecla, the Great Icelandic 

Volcanoes. 

THE far-northern island of Iceland, on the verge of the frozen 
Arctic realm, is one of the most volcanic countries in the 
world, whether we regard the number of volcanoes concen- 
trated in so small a space, or the extraordinary violence of their 
eruptions. Of volcanic mountains there are no less than twenty 
which have been active during historical times. Skaptar in the 
north, and Hecla in the south, being much the best known. In 
all, twenty-three eruptions are on record. 

Iceland's volcanoes rival Mount ^tna in height and magnitude, 
their action has been more continuous and intense, and the range of 
volcanic products is far greater than in Sicily. The latter island, 
indeed, is not one-tenth of volcanic origin, while the whole of Ice- 
land is due to the work of subterranean forces. It is entirely made 
up of volcanic rocks, and has seemingly been built up during the 
ages from the depths of the seas. It is reported, indeed, that a 
new island, the work of volcanic forces, appeared opposite Mount 
Hecla in 1563 ; but this statement is open to doubt. 

VOLCANOES IN ICELAND 

The eruptions of the volcanoes in Iceland have been amongst 
the most terrible of those carefully recorded. The cold climate of 
the island and the height of the mountains produce vast quantities 
of snow and ice, which cover the volcanoes and fill up the cracks 

A. 307 



3o8 GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 

and valleys in their sides. When, therefore, an eruption commences, 
the intense heat of the boiling lava, and of the steam which rushes 
forth from the crater, makes the whole mountain hot, and vast 
masses of ice, great fields of snow, and deluges of water roll down 
the hill-sides into the plains. The lava pours from the top and 
from cracks in the side of the mountain, or is ejected hundreds of 
feet, to fall amongst the ice and snow ; and the great masses of 
red-hot stone cast forth, accompanied by cinders and fine ashes, 
splash into the roaring torrent, which tears up rocks in its course 
and devastates the surrounding country for miles. 

DREADFUL FLOODS 

An eruption of Kotlugja, in i860, was accompanied by dread- 
ful floods. It began with a number of earthquakes, which shook 
the surrounding country. Then a dark columnar cloud of vapor 
was seen to rise by day from the mountain, and by night balls of 
fire (volcanic bombs) and red-hot cinders to the height of 24,000 
feet (nearly five miles), which were seen at a distance of 180 miles. 
Deluges of water rushed from the heights, bearing along whole 
fields of ice and rocky fragments of every size, some vomited from 
the volcano, but in great part torn from the flanks of the mountain 
itself and carried to the sea, there to add considerably to the coast- 
line after devastating the intervening country. The fountain of 
volcanic bombs consisted of masses of lava, containing gases which 
exploded and produced a loud sound, which was said to have been 
heard at a distance of 100 miles. The size of the bombs, and the 
height to which they must have reached, were very great. But the 
most remarkable of the historical eruptions in Iceland were those of 
Skaptar Jokull in 1783, and of Hecla in 1845. ^^ these an ex- 
tended description is worthy of being given. 



GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 309 

Of these two memorable eruptions, that of Skaptar-Jokull 
be^T^an on the i ith of June, 1783. It was preceded by a long series 
of earthquakes, which had become exceedingly violent immediately 
before the eruption. On the 8th, volcanic vapors were emitted 
from the summit of the mountain, and on the nth immense tor- 
rents of lava began to be poured forth from numerous mouths. 
These torrents united to form a large stream, which, flowing down 
into the river Skapta, not only dried it up, but completely filled the 
vast gorge through which the river had held its course. This 
gorge, 200 feet in breadth, and from 400 to 600 feet in depth, the 
lava filled so entirely as to overflow to a considerable extent the 
fields on either side. On issuing from this ravine, the lava flowed 
into a deep lake which lay in the course of the river. Here it was 
arrested for a while ; but it ultimately filled the bed of the lake 
altogether — either drying up its waters, or chasing them before it 
into the lower part of the river's course. Still forced onward by the 
accumulation of molten lava from behind, the stream resumed its 
advance, till it reached some ancient volcanic rocks which were full 
of caverns. Into these it entered, and where it could not eat its way 
by melting the old rock, it forced a passage by shivering the solid 
mass and throwing its broken fragments into the air to a height of 
1 50 feet. 

A TORRENT OF LAVA 

On the 1 8th of June there opened above the first mouth a 
second of large dimensions, whence poured another immense 
torrent of lava, which flowed wifh great rapidity over the solidified 
surface of the first stream, and ultimately combined with it to form 
a more formidable main current. When this fresh stream reached 
the fiery lake, which had filled the lower portion of the valley of 
the Skapta, a portion of it was forced up the channel of that river, 



3IO GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 

towards the foot of the hill whence it takes its rise. After pursuing 
its course for several days, the main body of this stream reached 
the edge of a great waterfall called Stapafoss, which plunged into 
a deep abyss. Displacing the water, the lava here leaped over the 
precipice, and formed a great cataract of fire. After this, it filled 
the channel of the river, though extending itself in breadth far 
beyond it, and followed it until it reached the sea. 

ENORMOUS QUANTITY OF LAVA 

The 3rd of August brought fresh accessions to the flood of 
lava still pouring from the mountain. There being no room in the 
channel, now filled by the former lurid stream, which had pursued a 
northwesterly course, the fresh lava was forced to take a new direc- 
tion towards the southeast, where it entered the bed of another 
river with a barbaric name. Here it pursued a course similar to 
that which flowed through the channel of the Skapta, filling up the 
deep gorges, and then spreading itself out into great fiery lakes 
over the plains. 

The eruptions of lava from the mountain continued, with 
some short intervals, for two years, and so enormous was the 
quantity poured forth during this period that, according to a care- 
ful estimate which has been made, the whole together would form 
a mass equal to that of Mont Blanc. Of the two streams, the 
greater was fifty, the less forty, miles in length. The Skapta 
branch attained on the plains a breadth varying from twelve to 
fifteen miles — that of the other was only about half as much. Each 
of the currents had an average depth of 100 feet, but in the deep 
gorges it was no less than 600 feet. Even as late as 1 794 vapors 
continued to rise from these great streams, and the water contained 
in the numerous fissures formed in their crust was hot. 



GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 3tt 

The devastation directly wrought by the lava currents them- 
selves was not the whole of the evils they brought upon unfortunate 
Iceland and its inhabitants. Partly owing to the sudden melting 
of the snows and glaciers of the mountain, partly owing to the 
stoppage of the river courses, immense floods of water deluged the 
country in the neighborhood, destroying many villages and a large 
amount of agricultural and other property. Twenty villages were 
overwhelmed by the lava currents, while the ashes thrown out 
during the eruption covered the whole island and the surface of 
the sea for miles around its shores. On several occasions the ashes 
were drifted by the winds over considerable parts of the European 
continent, obscuring the sun and giving the sky a gray and gloomy 
aspect. In certain respects they reproduced the phenomena of the 
explosion of Mount Krakatoa, which, singularly, occurred just a 
century later, in 1883. The strange red sunset phenomena of the 
latter were reproduced by this Icelandic event of the eighteenth 
century. 

Out of the 50,000 persons who then inhabited Iceland, 9,336 
perished, together with 11,460 head of cattle, 190,480 sheep and 
28,000 horses. This dreadful destruction of life was caused partly 
by the direct action of the lava currents, partly by the noxious 
vapors they emitted, partly by the floods of water, partly by 
the destruction of the herbage by the falling ashes, and lastly in 
consequence of the desertion of the coasts by the fish, which formed 
a large portion of the food of the people. 

ERUPTION OF MOUNT HECLA 

After this frightful eruption, no serious volcanic disturbance 
took place in Iceland untill 1845, when Mount Hecla again became 
disastrously active. Mount Hecla has been the most frequent in its 



312 GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 

eruptions of any of the Icelandic volcanoes. Previous to 1845 
there had been twenty-two recorded eruptions of this mountain, 
since the discovery of Iceland in the ninth century ; while from all 
the other volcanoes in the island there had been only twenty dur- 
ing the same period. Hecla has more than once remained in 
activity for six years at a time — a circumstance that has rendered 
it the best known of the volcanoes of this region. 

LATER OUTBREAKS 

After enjoying a long rest of seventy-nine years, this volcano 
burst again into violent activity in the beginning of September, 
1845. The first inkling of this eruption was conveyed to the Brit- 
ish Islands by a fall of volcanic ashes in the Orkneys, which oc- 
curred on the night of September 2nd during a violent storm. 
This palpable hint was soon confirmed by direct intelligence from 
Copenhagen. On the ist of September a severe earthquake, fol- 
lowed the same night by fearful subterranean noises, alarmed the 
inhabitants and gave warning of what was to come. About noon 
the next day, with a dreadful crash, there opened in the sides of the 
volcano two new mouths, whence two great streams of glowing 
lava poured forth. They fortunately flowed down the north- 
ern and northwestern sides of the mountain, where the low grounds 
are mere barren heaths, affording a scanty pasture for a few sheep. 
These were driven before the fiery stream, but several of them 
were burnt before they could escape. The whole mountain was 
enveloped in clouds of volcanic ashes and vapors. The rivers near 
the lava currents became so hot as to kill the fish, and to be im- 
passable even on horseback. 

About a fortnight later there was a fresh eruption, of greater 
violence, which lasted twenty-two hours, and was accompanied by 



GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 313 

detonations so loud as to be heard over the whole island. Two 
new craters were formed, one on the southern, the other on the 
eastern slope of the cone. The lava issuing from these craters 
flowed to a distance of more than twenty-two miles. At about two 
miles from its source the fiery stream was a mile wide, and from 
40 to 50 feet deep. It destroyed a large extent of fine pasture and 
many cattle. Nearly a month later, on the 15th of October, a fresh 
flood of lava burst from the southern crater, and soon heaped up a 
mass at the foot of the mountain from 40 to 60 feet in height, three 
great columns of vapor, dust and ashes rising at the same time 
from the three new craters of the volcano. The mountain contin- 
ued in a state of greater or less activity during most of the next 
year ; and even as late as the month of October, 1846, after a brief 
pause, it began again with renewed vehemence. The volumes of 
dust, ashes and vapor, thrown up from the craters, and brightly il- 
luminated by the glowing lava beneath, assumed the appearance of 
flames, and ascended to an immense height. 

ELECTRIC PHENOMENA 

Among the stones tossed out of the craters was one large mass 
of pumice weighing nearly half a ton, which was carried to a dis- 
tance of between four and five miles. The rivers were flooded by 
the melting of ice and snow which had accumulated on the moun- 
tain. The greatest mischief wrought by these successive eruptions 
was the destruction of the pasturages, which were for the most part 
covered with volcanic ashes. Even where left exposed, the herbage 
acquired a poisonous taint which proved fatal to the cattle, 
inducing among them a peculiar murrain. Fortunately, owing to 
the nature of the district through which the lava passed, there was 
on this occasion no loss of human life- 



514 GREAT ICELANDIC VOLCANOES 

The Icelandic volcanoes are remarkable for the electric 
phenomena which they produce in the atmosphere. Violent 
thunder-storms, with showers of rain and hail, are frequent accom- 
paniments of volcanic eruptions everywhere ; but owing to the 
coldness and dryness of the air into which the vapors from the Ice- 
landic volcanoes ascend, their condensation is so sudden and violent 
that great quantities of electricity are developed. Thunder-storms 
accompanied by the most vivid lightnings are the result. Humboldt 
mentions in his " Cosmos " that, during an eruption of Kotlugja, 
one of the southern Icelandic volcanoes, the lightning from the 
cloud of volcanic vapor killed eleven horses and two men (Cosmos 
i. 223). Great displays of the aurora borealis usually accompany 
the volcanic eruptions of this island — doubtless resulting from the 
quantity of electricity imparted to the higher atmosphere by the 
condensation of the ascending vapors. On the i8th of August, 
1783, while the great eruption of Skaptar Jokull was in progress, 
an immense fire-ball passed over England and the European con- 
tinent as far as Rome. This ball which was estimated to have had 
a diameter exceeding half a mile, is supposed to have been of 
electrical origin, and due to the high state of electric tension in the 
atmosphere over Iceland at that time. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Volcanoes of the Philippines and Other Pacific 

Islands. 

WE cannot do better than open this chapter with an account 
of the work of volcanoes in the mountain-girdled East 
Indian island of Java. This large and fertile tropical 
island has a large native population, and many European settlers 
are employed in cultivating spices, coffee and woods. The island 
is rather more than 600 miles long, and it is not 150 miles broad in 
any part ; and this narrow shape is produced by a chain of volca- 
noes which runs along it. There is scarcely any other region in 
the world where volcanoes are so numerous, even in the East, where 
the volcano is a very common product of nature. Some of the vol- 
canoes of Java are constantly in eruption, while others are inactive. 
One of their number, Galung Gung, was previous to 1822 cov- 
ered from top to bottom with a dense forest; around it were populous 
villages. The mountain was high ; there was a slight hollow on its 
top — a basin-like valley, carpeted with the softest sward ; brooks 
rippled down the hillside through the forests, and, joining their 
silvery streams, flowed on through beautiful valleys into the distant 
sea. In the month of July, 1822, there were signs of an approach- 
ing disturbance ; this tranquil peacefulness was at an end ; one of 
the rivers became muddy, and its waters grew hot. 

In October, without any warning, a most terrific eruption 
occurred A loud explosion was heard ; the earth shook, and 

315 



3i6 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

immense columns of hot water, boiling mud mixed with burning 
brimstone, ashes and stones, were hurled upwards from the moun- 
tain top like a waterspout, and with such wonderful force that 
large quantities fell at a distance of forty miles. Every valley 
near the mountain became filled with burning torrents ; the rivers, 
swollen with hot water and mud, overflowed their banks, and 
swept away the escaping villagers ; and the bodies of cattle, wild 
beasts, and birds were carried down the flooded stream. 

ERUPTION OF GALUNG GUNG 

A space of twenty-four miles between the mountain and a 
river forty miles distant was covered to such a depth with blue mud, 
that people were buried in their houses, and not a trace of the 
numerous villages and plantations was visible. The boiling mud 
and cinders were cast forth with such violence from the crater, that 
while many distant villages were utterly destroyed and buried, 
others much nearer the volcano were scarcely injured ; and all this 
was done in five short hours. 

Four days afterwards a second eruption occurred more violent 
than the first, and hot water and mud were cast forth with masses 
of slag like the rock called basalt some of which fell seven miles 
off. A violent earthquake shook the whole district, and the top of 
the mountain fell in, and so did one of its sides, leaving a gaping 
chasm. Hills appeared where there had been level land before, 
and the rivers changed their courses, drowning in one night 2,000 
people. At some distance from the mountain a river runs through 
a large town, and the first intimation the inhabitants had of all this 
horrible destruction was the news that the bodies of men and the 
carcases of stags, rhinoceroses, tigers, and other animals, were rush- 
ing along to the sea. No less than 114 villages were destroyed, 
and above 4,000 persons were killed by this terrible catastrophe. 



VOLCANOES Of THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 317 

Fifty years before this eruption, Mount Papandayang, one of 
the highest burning mountains of Java, was constantly throwing 
out steam and smoke, but as no harm was done, the natives con- 
tinued to live on its sides. Suddenly this enormous mountain fell 
in, and left a gap fifteen miles long and six broad. Forty vil- 
lages were destroyed, some being carried down and others over- 
whelmed by mud and burning lava. No less than 2,957 people 
perished, with vast numbers of cattle ; moreover, most of the coffee 
plantations in the neighboring districts were destroyed. 

Even more terrible was the eruption of Mount Salek, another 
of the volcanoes of Java, The burning of the mountain was seen 
100 miles away, while the thunders of its convulsions and the 
tremblings of the earth reached the same distance. Seven hills, at 
whose base ran a river — crowded with dead buffaloes, deer, apes, 
tigers, and crocodiles — slipped down and became a level plain. 
River-courses were changed, forests were burnt up, and the whole 
face of the country was completely altered. 

Later volcanic eruptions in Java include that of 1843, when 
Mount Guntur flung out sand and ashes estimated at the vast total 
of thirty million tons, and those of 1849 and 1872 when Mount 
Merapi, a very active volcano, covered a great extent of country 
with stones and ashes, and ruined the coffee plantations of the 
neighboring districts. 

We have said nothing, concerning the most terrible explosion 
of all, that of the volcanic island of Krakatoa, off the Javan coast. 
This event was so phenomenal as to deserve a chapter of its own, 
for which we reserve it. 

The United States, as one result of its recent acquisition of is- 
land dominions, has added largely to its wealth in volcanic moun< 
tainso The famous Hawaiian craters, far the greatest in the world, 



31 8 VOLCAJNOES 0I< THE FACll^lC ISLANDL 

now belong to our national estate, and the Philippine Islands coii 
tain various others, of less importance, yet some of which have 
proved very destructive. A description of those of the Island of 
Luzon, which are the most active in the archipelago, is here sub- 
joined : 

THE LUZON VOLCANOES. 

Volcanoes have played an important part in the formation of 
the Philippine Islands and have left traces of their former activity 
in all directions. Most of them, however, have long been dead and 
silent, only a few of the once numerous group being now active. 
Of these there are three of importance in the southern region of 
Luzon — Taal, Bulusan and Mayon or Albay. 

The last named of these is the largest and most active of the 
existing volcanoes. In form it V, oi marvellous grace and beauty, 
forming a perfect cone, about fifty miles in circuit at base and ris« 
ing to a height of 8,900 feet. It is one of the most prominent 
landmarks to navigators in the island. From its crater streams 
upward a constant smoke, accompanied at times by flame, while 
from its depths issue subterranean sounds, often heard at a distance 
of many leagues. The whole surrounding country is marked by 
evidences of old eruptions. 

This mountain, in 1767, sent up a cone of flame of forty feet in 
diameter at base, for ten days, and for two months a wide stream of 
lava poured from its crater. A month later there gushed fort?v 
great floods of water, which filled the rivers to overflow, doing 
widespread damage to the neighboring plantations. But its great- 
est and most destructive eruption took place in 181 2, the year of the 
great eruption of the St. Vincent volcano. On this fatal occasion 
several towns were destroyed and no less than 12,000 people lost 
their lives. The debris flung forth from the crater were so abundant 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 319 

that deposits deep enough to bury the tallest trees were formed 
near the mountain. In 1867 another disastrous explosion took 
place, and still another in 1888. A disaster different in kind and 
cause occurred in 1876, when a terrible tropical storm burst upon 
the mountain. The floods of rain swept from its sides the loose 
volcanic material, and brought destruction to the neighboring coun- 
try, more than six thousand houses being ruined by the rushing 
flood. 

BULUSAN AND TAAL 

Bulusan, a volcano on the southern extremity of the island, re- 
sembles Vesuvius in shape. For many years it remained dorniant, 
but in 1852 smoke began to issue from its crater. In some respects 
the most interesting of these three volcanoes is that of Taal, which 
lies almost due south of Manila and about forty-five miles distant, on 
a small island in the middle of a large lake, known as Bombom or 
Bongbong. A remarkable feature of this volcanic mountain is that 
it is probably the lowest in the world, its height being only 850 feet 
above sea level. There are doubtful traditions that Lake Bombom, 
a hundred square miles in extent, was formed by a terrible eruption 
in 1700, by which a lofty mountain 8000 or 9000 feet high, was 
destroyed. The vast deposits of porous tufa in the surrounding 
country are certainly evidences of former great eruptions from 
Mount Taal. 

The crater of this volcano is an immense, cup-shaped depres- 
sion, a mile or more in diameter and about 800 feet deep. When 
recently visited by Professor Worcester, during his travels in these 
islands, he found it to contain three boiling lakelets of strangely- 
colored water, one being of a dirty brown hue, a second intensely 
yellow In tint, and the third of a brilliant emerald green. The 
mountain still steams and fumes, as if too actively at work below 



320 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLAND:^ 

to be at rest above. In past times it has shown the forces at 
play in its depths by breaking at times into frightful activity. Of 
the various explosions on record, the three most violent were those 
of 1 716, 1749, and 1754. In the last-named year the earth for 
miles round quaked with the convulsive throes of the deeply dis- 
turbed mountain, and vast quantities of volcanic dust were hurled 
high into the air, sufficient to make it dark at midday for many 
leagues around. The roofs of distant Manila were covered with 
volcanic dust and ashes. Molten lava also poured from the crater 
and flowed into the lake, which boiled with the intense heat, while 
great showers of stones and ashes fell into its waters. 

VOLCANOES IN THE SOUTHERN ISLANDS 

Extinct volcanoes are numerous in Luzon, and there are 
smoking cones in the north, and also in the Babuyanes Islands still 
farther north. Volcanoes also exist in several of the other islands. 
On Negros is the active peak of Malaspina, and on Camiguin, an 
island about ninety miles to the southeast, a new volcano broke out 
in 1876. The large island of Mindanao has three volcanoes, of 
which Cottabato was in eruption in 1856 and is still active at inter- 
vals. Apo, the largest of the three, estimated to be 10,312 feet 
high, has three summits, within which lies the great crater^ now 
extinct and filled with water. 

In evidence of former volcanic activity are the abundant 
deposits of sulphur on the island of Leyte, the hot springs in various 
localities, and the earthquakes which occasionally bring death and 
destruction. Of the many of these on record, the most destructive 
was in 1863, when 400 people were killed and 2,000 injured, while 
many buildings were wrecked. Another in 1880 wrought great 
destruction in Manila and elsewhere, though without loss of life 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 321 

An earthquake in Mindanao in 1675 opened a passage to the sea, 
and a vast plain emerged. These convulsions of the earth affect 
the form and elevation of buildings, which are rarely more than two 
stories high and lightly built, while translucent sea-shells replace 
glass in their windows. 

While Java is the most prolific in volcanoes of the islands of 
the Malayan Archipelago, other islands of the group possess ac- 
tive cones, including Sumatra, Bali, Amboyna, Banda and others. In 
Sanguir, an island north of Celebes, is a volcanic mountain from 
which there was a destructive eruption in 1856. The country was 
devastated with lava, stones and volcanic ashes, ruining a wide dis- 
trict and killing nearly 3,000 of the inhabitants. Mount Madrian, in 
one of the Spice Islands, was rent in twain by a fierce eruption in 
1646, and since then has remained two distinct mountains. It 
became active again in 1862, after two centuries of repose, and 
caused great loss of life and property. Sorea, a small island of the 
same group, forming but a single volcanic mountain, had an erup- 
tion in 1693, the cone crumbling gradually till a vast crater was 
formed, filled with liquid lava and occupying nearly half the island. 
This lake of fire increased in size by the same process till in the 
end it took possession of the island and forced all the inhabitants 
to flee to more hospitable shores. 

THE GREAT ERUPTION OF TOMBORO 

But of the East Indian Islands, Sumbawa, lying east of Java, 
contains the most formidable volcano — one, indeed, scarcely with- 
out a rival in the world. This is named Tomboro. Of its various 
eruptions the most furious on record was that of 181 5. This, as 
we are told by Sir Stamford Raffles, far exceeded in force and dur- 
ation any of the known outbreaks of Etna or Vesuvius. The 



322 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

ground trembled and the echoes of its roar were heard through an 
area of i,ooo miles around the volcano, and to a distance of 300 
miles its effects were astounding. 

In Java, 300 miles away, ashes filled the air so thickly that the 
solar rays could not penetrate them, and fell to the depth of several 
inches. The detonations were so similar to the reports of artillery 
as to be mistaken for them. The Rajah of Sang'ir, who was an 
eye-witness of the eruption, thus described it to Sir Stamford : 

"About 7 p. M. on the loth of April, three distinct columns of 
flame burst forth near the top of the Tomboro mountain (all of 
them apparently within the verge of the crater), and, after ascend- 
ing separately to a very great height, their tops united in the air in 
a troubled, confused manner. In 1 short time the whole mountain 
next Sang'ir appeared like a body of liquid fire, extending itself in 
every direction. The fire and columns of flame continued to rage 
with unabated fury, until the darkness caused by the quantity of 
falling matter obscured them, at about 8 p. m. Stones at this time fell 
very thick at Sang'ir — some of them as large as two fists, but 
generally not larger than walnuts. Between 9 and 10 p. m. ashes 
began to fall, and soon after a violent whirlwind ensued, which 
blew down nearly every house in the village of Sang'ir — carrying the 
roofs and light parts away with it. In the port of Sang'ir, adjoin- 
ing Tomboro, its effects were much more violent — ^tearing up 
by the roots the largest trees, and carrying them into the air^ 
together with men, horses, cattle, and whatever else came within 
its influence. This will account for the immense number of float- 
ing trees seen at sea. The sea rose nearly twelve feet higher than 
it had ever been known to do before, and completely spoiled the 
only spots of rice-land in Sang'ir — sweeping away houses and 
everything within its reach. The whirlwind lasted about an hour. 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 323 

No explosions were heard till the whirlwind had ceased, at about 
II P.M. From midnight till the evening of the nth, they con- 
tinued without intermission. After that time their violence 
moderated, and they were heard only at intervals ; but the ex- 
jplosions did not cease entirely until the 15th of July. Of all the 
villages of Tomboro, Tempo, containing about forty inhabitants, is 
the only one remaining. In Pekate no vestige of a house is 
left ; twenty-six of the people, who were at Sumbawa at the time, 
are the whole of the population who have escaped. From the 
most particular inquiries I have been able to make, there were cer- 
tainly no fewer than 12,000 individuals in Tomboro and Pekate at 
the time of the eruption, of whom only five or six survive. The 
trees and herbage of every description, along the whole of the 
north and west sides of the peninsula, have been completely 
destroyed, with the exception of those on a high point of land, near 
the spot where the village of Tomboro stood." 

Tomboro village was not only invaded by the sea on this 
occasion, but its site permanently subsided ; so that there is now 
eighteen feet of water where there was formerly dry land. 

THE VOLCANOES OF JAPAN 

The Japanese archipelago, as stated in an earlier chapter, is 
abundantly supplied with volcanoes, a number of them being active. 
'Of these the best known to travelers is Asamayama, a mountain 
8,500 feet high, of which there are several recorded eruptions. The 
first of these was in 1650; after v/hich the volcano remained feebly 
active till 1783, when it broke out in a very severe eruption. In 
1870 there was another of some severity, accompanied by violent 
shocks of earthquake felt at Yokohama. The crater is very deep, 
with irregular rocky walls of a sulphurous character. 



324 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

Far the most famous of all the Japanese mountains, however, 
is that named Fuji-san, but commonly termed in English Fujiyama 
or Fusiyama. It is in the vicinity of the capital, and is the most 
prominent object in the landscape for many miles around. The 
apex is shaped somewhat like an eight-petaled lotus flower, and 
offers to view from different directions from three to five peaks. 

Though now apparently extinct, it was formerly an active vol' 
cano, and is credited in history with several very disastrous erup- 
tions. The last of these was in 1 707, at which time the whole summit 
burst into flames. Rocks were split and shattered by the heat, and 
stones fell to the depth of several inches in Yeddo (now Tokyo), sixty 
miles away. At present there are in its crater, which has a depth 
of 700 or 800 feet, neither sulphurous exhalations nor steam. Accord- 
ing to Japanese tradition this great peak was upheaved in a single 
night from the bottom of the sea, more than twenty-one hundred 
years ago. 

Nothing can be more majestic than this volcano, extinct 
though it be, rising in an immense cone from the plain to the height 
of over twelve thousand feet, truncated at the top, and with its 
peak almost always snow-covered. Its ascent is not difficult to an 
expert climber, and has frequently been made. From its summit 
is unfolded a panorama beyond the power of words to describe, and 
probably the most remarkable on the globe. Mountains, valleys, 
lakes, forests and the villages of thirteen counties may be seen. 
As we gaze upon its beautifully shaped and lofty mass, visible even 
from Yokohama and a hundred miles at sea, one does not wonder 
that it should be regarded as a holy mountain, and that it should 
form a conspicuous object in every Japanese work of art. It is to 
the natives of Japan as Mont Blanc is to Europeans, the "monarch 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 325 

In summer pilgrimages are made around the base of the summit 
elevation, and there are on the upward path a number of Buddhist 
temples and shrines, made of blocks of stone, for devotion, shelter 
and the storage of food for pilgrims. Hakone Lake is three thou- 
sand feet above the sea, and probably lies in the crater of an extinct 
volcano. Its waters are very deep; it is several miles long and 
wide, and is surrounded by high hills which abound in fine scenery, 
solfataras and mineral springs. 

HOT SPRINGS NEAR HAKONE LAKE 

At this place the mountain seems to be smouldering, as sul- 
phur fumes and steam issue at many points, and the ground is 
covered with a friable white alkaline substance. In many a hollow 
the water bubbles with clouds of vapor and sulphuretted hydrogen ; 
here the soil is hot and evidently underlaid by active fires. It is 
not safe to go very near, as the crust is thin and crumbling. The 
water running down the hills has a refreshing sound and a tempt- 
ing clearness, but the thirsty tongue at once detects it to be a very 
strong solution of alum. The whole aspect of the place is infernal, 
and naturally suggests the name given its principal geyser, O-gigoko' 
(Big Hell). 

Fujiyama is almost a perfect cone, with, as above said, a truncated 
top, in which is the crater. It is, however, less steep than Mayon. Its 
upper part is comparatively steep, even to thirty-five degrees, but 
below this portion the inclination gradually lessens, till its elegant 
outlines are lost in the plain from which it rises. The curves of 
the sides depend partly on the nature, size and shape of the ejected 
material, the fine uniform pieces remaining on comparatively steef 
slopes, while the larger and rounder ones roll farther down, resting 
on the inclination that afterward becomes curved from the subsidence 
of the central mass. 



326 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

The most recent and one of the most destructive of volcanic 
eruptions recorded in Japan was that of Bandaisan or Baldaisan. 
For ages this mountain had been peaceful, and there was scarcely 
an indication of its volcanic character or of the terrific forces which 
lay dormant deep within its heart. On its flanks lay some small 
deposits of scoriae, indications of far-past eruptions, and there were 
some hot springs at its base, while steam arose from a fissure. Yet 
there was nothing to warn the people of the vicinity that deadly 
peril lay under their feet. 

bandaisan's work of terror 

This sense of security was fatally dissipated on a day in July, 
1888, when the mountain suddenly broke into eruption and flung 
1,600 million cubic yards of its summit material so high into the 
air that many of the falling fragments, in their fall, struck the 
ground with such velocity as to be buried far out of sight. The 
steam and dust were driven to a height of 1 3,000 feet, where they 
spread into a canopy of much greater elevation, causing pitchy dark- 
ness beneath. There were from fifteen to twenty violent explosions, 
^nd a great landslide devastated about thirty square miles and 
•f>«uried many villages in the Nagase Valley. 

Mr. Norman, a traveler who visited the spot shortly after- 
ward, thus describes the scene of ruin. After a journey through 
the forests which clothed the slopes of the volcanic mountain and 
prevented any distant view, the travelers at last found themselves 
■ standing upon the ragged edge of what was left of the mountain 
of Bandaisan, after two-thirds of it, including, of course, the summit, 
had been literally blown away and spread over the face of the 
country. 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 327 

*' The original cone of the mountain," he continues, " had been 
truncated at an acute angle to its axis. From our very feet a pre- 
cipitous mud slope falls away for half a mile or more till it reaches 
the level. At our right, still below us, rises a mud wall a mile long, 
also sloping down to the level, and behind it is evidently the cratei ; 
but before us, for five miles in a straight line, and on each side 
nearly as far, is a sea of congealed mud, broken up into ripples and 
waves and great billows, and bearing upon its bosom a thousand 
huge boulders, weighing hundreds of tons apiece." 

On reaching the crater he found it to resemble a gigantic 
cauldron, fully a mile in width, and enclosed with precipitous walls 
of indurated mud. From several orifices volumes of steam rose 
into the air, and when the vapor cleared away for a moment glimpses 
of a mass of boiling mud were obtained. Before the eruption the 
mountain top had terminated in three peaks. Of these the highest 
had an elevation of about 5,800 feet. The peak destroyed was the 
middle one, which was rather smaller than the other two. 

" The explosion was caused by steam ; there was neither fire 
nor lava of any kind. It was, in fact, nothing more nor less than 
a gigantic boiler explosion. The whole top and one side of Sho- 
Bandai-san had been blown into the air in a lateral direction, and 
the earth of the mountain was converted by the escaping steam, at 
the moment of the explosion, into boiling mud, part of which was 
projected into the air to fall at a long distance, and then take the 
form of an overflowing river, which rushed v/ith vast rapidity and 
covered the country to a depth of from 20 to 150 feet. Thirty 
square miles of country were thus devastated." 

In the devastated lowlands and buried villages below and 
on the slopes of the mountain many lives were lost. From the 
survivors Mr. Norman gathered some information, enabling him 



328 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

to describe the main features of the catastrophe. We append a 
brief outline of his narrative : 

MR. NORMAN's narrative 

'* At a few minutes past 8 o'clock in the morning a frightful 
noise was heard by the inhabitants of a village ten miles distant 
from the crater. Some of them instinctively took to flight, but 
before they could run much more than a hundred yards the light 
of day was suddenly changed into a darkness more intense than 
that of midnight ; a shower of blinding hot ashes and sand poured 
down upon them ; the ground was shaken with earthquakes, and 
explosion followed explosion, the last being the most violent of all. 
Many fugitives, as well as people in the houses, were overwhelmed 
by the deluge of mud, none of the fugitives, when overtaken by 
death, being more than two hundred yards from the village. From 
the statements made by those fortunate enough to escape with 
their lives, and from a personal examination of the ground, Mr. Nor- 
man inferred that the mud must have been flung fully six miles 
through the air and then have poured in a torrent along the ground 
for four miles further. All this was done in less than five minutes, so 
that "millions of tons of boiling mud were hurled over the country 
at the rate of two miles a minute." 

The velocity of the mud torrent may perhaps be overestimated, 
but in its awful suddenness this catastrophe was evidently one with 
few equals. The cone destroyed may have been largely composed 
of rather fine ashes and scoriae, which was almost instantaneously 
converted into mud by the condensing steam and the boiling water 
ejected. The quantity of water thus discharged must have been 
enormous. 



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VOLCANOES OF 7 HE PACIFIC ISLANDS 329 

Of the remaining volcanic regions of the Pacific, the New Zea- 
land islands present some of the most striking examples of activity. 
All the central parts, indeed, of the northern island of the group 
are of a highly volcanic character. There is here a mountain 
named Tongariro, on whose snow-clad summit is a deep crater, 
from which volcanic vapors are seen to issue, and which exhib- 
its other indications of having been in a state of greater activity 
at a not very remote period of time. There is also, at no great 
distance from this mountain, a region containing numerous funnel- 
shaped chasms, emitting hot water, or steam, or sulphurous vapors, 
or boiling mud. The earthquakes in New Zealand had probably 
their origin in this volcanic focus. 

THE NEW ZEALAND VOLCANOES 

Tongariro has a height of about 6,500 feet, while Egmont, 
8,270 feet in height. Is a perfect cone with a perpetual cap of snow. 
There are many other volcanic mountains, and also great numbers 
of mud volcanoes, hot springs and geysers. It is for the latter 
that the island is best known to geologists. Their waters are at or 
near the boiling point and contain silica in abundance. 

At a place called Rotomahana, in the vicinity of Mount Tara- 
wera, there was formerly a lake of about one hundred and twenty 
acres in area, which was in its way one of the most remarkable 
bodies of water upon the earth. Formerly, we say, for this lake no 
longer exists, It having been destroyed by the very forces to which it 
owed its fame. Its waters were maintained nearly at the boiling point 
by the continual accession of boiling water from numerous springs. 
The most abundant of those sources was situated at the height of 
about 100 feet above the level of the lake. It kept continually 
filled an oval basin about 250 feet in circumference — the margins of 



330 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

which were fringed all round with beautiful pure white stalactites, 
formed by deposits of silica, with which the hot water was strongly 
impregnated. At various stages below the principal spring were 
several others, that contributed to feed the lake at the bottom, in 
the centre of which was a small island. Minute bubbles contin- 
ually escaped from the surface of the water with a hissing sound, 
and the sand all round the lake was at a high temperature. If a 
stick was thrust into it, very hot vapors would ascend from the hole. 
Not far from this lake were several small basins filled with tepid 
water, which was very clear, and of a blue color. 

The conditions here were of a kind with those to which are 
due the great geysers of Iceland and the Yellowstone Park, but 
different in the fact that instead of being intermittent and throw- 
ing up jets at intervals, the springs allowed the water to flow from 
them in a continuous stream. 

THE PINK AND WHITE TERRACES 

The silicious incrustations left by the overflow from the large 
pool had made a series of terraces, two to six feet high, with the 
appearance of being hewn from white or pink marble ; each of the 
basins containing a similar azure water. These terraces covered 
an area of about three acres, and looked like a series of cataracts 
changed into stone, each edge being fringed with a festoon of deli- 
cate stalactites. The water contained about eighty-five per cent, of 
silica, with one or two per cent, of iron alumina, and a little 
alkali. 

There were no more beautiful products of nature upon the 
earth than those " pink and white terraces," as they were called. 
The hot springs of the Yellowstone have produced formations 
resembling them, but not th^^ir equal in fairy-like charm. One 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 



331 



series of these terraced pools and cascades was of the purest white 
tint, the other of the most deHcate pink, the waters topping over 
the edge of each pool and falling in a miniature cascade to the one 
next below, thus keeping the edges built up by a continual renewal 
of the silicious incrustation. But all their beauty could not save 
them from utter and irremediable destruction by the forces below 
the earth's surface. 

On June 9, 1886, a great volcanic disturbance began in the 



^j 



r* -''tE"*-" ' 














PINK AND WHITE TERRACES OF LAKE ROTO MAHANA, NEW ZEALAND. 

Auckland Lake region with a tremendous earthquake, followed dur- 
ing the night by many others. At seven the next morning a lead- 
covered cloud of pumice sand, advancing from the south, burst and 
discharged showers of fine dust. The range of Mount Tarawera 
seemed to be in full volcanic activity, including some craters sup- 
posed to be extinct, and embracing an area of one hundred and 
twenty miles by twenty. 



332 VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

The showers of dust were so thick as to turn day into night 
for nearly two days. Some lives were lost, and several villages 
were destroyed, these being covered ten feet deep with ashes, dust 
and clayey mud. The volcanic phenomena were of the most vio- 
lent character, and the whole island appears to have been more or 
less convulsed. Mount Tarawera is said to be five hundred feet 
higher than before the eruption ; glowing masses were thrown up 
into the air, and tongues of fiery hue, gases or illuminated vapors, 
five hundred feet wide, towered up one thousand feet high. The 
mountain was 2,700 feet in height. 

TARAWERA IN ERUPTION 

This eruption presented a spectacle of rarely-equalled gran- 
deur. To travelers and strangers the greatest resultant loss will be 
the destruction of those world-famous curiosities, the white and 
pink terraces, in the vicinity of Lake Rotomahana and the region 
of the famous geysers. The natives have a superstition that the 
eruption of the extinct Tarawera was caused by the profanation of 
foreign footsteps. It was to them a sacred place, and its crater a 
repository for their dead. The first earthquake occurred in this 
region. One side of the mountain fell in, and then the eruption 
began. The basin of the lake was broken up and disappeared, but 
again reappeared as a boiling mud cauldron ; craters burst out in 
various places, and the beautiful terraces were no more. After 
the first day the violence gradually diminished, and in a week had 
ceased. Very possibly another lake will be formed, and in time 
other terraces ; but it is hardly within the range of probability that 
the beauty of the lost terraces will ever be paralleled. 

In this eruption, as usual, we find the earthquake preceding 
the volcanic outburst New Zealand, like the Philippines, Java and 



VOLCANOES OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 333 

the Japanese Islands, is situated over a great earth-fissure or line 
of weakness. Subsidence or dislocation from tensile strain of the 
crust took place, and the influx of water to new regions of heated 
^strata may have developed the explosive force. The earthquake and 
the volcano worked together here, as they frequently do, unfortun- 
ately in this case destroying one of the most beautiful scenes on 
the surface of the globe. 

THE ANTARCTIC VOLCANOES 

Much further south, on the frozen shore of Victoria Land in 
the Antarctic regions, Sir James Ross, in 1841, sailing in his dis- 
covery ships the Erebus and Terror, discovered two great volcanic 
mountains, which he named after those two vessels. Mount 
Erebus is continually covered, from top to bottom, with snow and 
glaciers. The mountain is about 12,000 feet high, and although 
the snow reaches to the very edge of the crater, there rise con- 
tinually from the summit immense volumes of volcanic fumes, illumi- 
nated by the glare of glowing lava beneath them. The vapors 
ascend to an estimated height of 2,200 feet above the top of the 
mountain. 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

The Wonderful Hawaiian Craters and Kilauea's 

Lake of Fire. 

N the central regfion of the North Pacific Ocean lies the archi- 
pelago formerly known as the Sandwich Islands, now collec- 
tively designated as Hawaii. The people of the United States 
should be specially interested in this island group, for it has become 
one of our possessions, an outlying Territory of our growing 
Republic, and in making it part of our national domain we have 
not alone extended our dominion far over the seas, but have added 
to the many marvels of nature within our land one of the chief 
wonders of the world, the stupendous Hawaiian volcanoes, before 
whose grandeur many of more ancient fame sink into insignificance. 

THE ISLAND OF HAWAII 

The Island of Hawaii, the principal island of the group, we 

may safely say contains the most enormous volcano of the earth. 

Indeed, the whole island, which is 400c square miles in extent, 

may be regarded as of volcanic origin. It contains four volcanic 

mountains — Kohola, Hualalia, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The 

two last named are the chief, the former being 13,800 feet, the latter 

13,600 feet, above the sea-level. Although their height is so vast, 

the ascent to their summits is so gradual that their circumference 

at the base is enormous. The bulk of each of them is reckoned to 

be equal to two and a half times that of Etna: Some of the streams 
334 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 335 

of lava which have emanated from them are twenty-six miles in 
length by two miles in breadth. 

On the adjoining island of Maui is a still larger volcano, the 
mighty Haleakala, long since extinct, but memorable as possessing 
the most stupendous crater on the face of the earth. The moun- 
tain itself is over 10,000 feet high, and forms a great dome-like 
mass of 90 miles circumference at base. The crater on its summit 
has a length of 7^ and a width of 2^^ miles, with a total area of 
about sixteen square miles. The only approach in dimensions to 
this enormous opening exists in. the still living crater of Kilauea, 
on the flank of Mauna Loa. 

A VOLCANIC ISLAND GROUP 

The peaks named are the most apparent remnants of a world- 
rending volcanic activity in the remote past, by whose force this 
whole Hawaiian island group was lifted up from the depths of the 
ocean, here descending some three and a half miles below the sur- 
face level. The coral reefs which abound around the islands are 
of comparatively recent formation, and rest upon a substratum of 
lava probably ages older, which forms the base of the archi- 
pelago. The islands are volcanic peaks and ridges that have been 
pushed up above the surrounding seas by the profound action o{ 
the interior forces of the earth. 

It must not be supposed that this action was a violent perpen- 
dicular thrust upward over a very limited locality, for the mountains 
continue to slope at about the same angle under the sea and for 
great distances on every side, so that the islands are really the 
crests of an extensive elevation, estimated to cover an area of about 
2000 miles in one direction by 150 or 200 miles in the other. The 
process was probably a gradual one of up-building, by means of 



336 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

which the sea receded as the land steadily rose. Some idea of the 
mighty forces that have been at work beneath the sea and above it 
can be gained by considering the enormous mass of material now 
above the sea-level Thus, the bulk of the island of Hawaii, the 
largest of the group, has been estimated by the Hawaiian Surveyor 
General as containing 3,600 cubic miles of lava rock above sea-level. 
Taking the area of England at 50,000 square miles, this mass of 
volcanic matter would cover that entire country to a depth of 274 
feet. We must remember, however, that what is above sea-level is 
only a small fraction of the total amount, since it sweeps down 
below the waves hundreds of miles on every side. 

CRATER OF HALEAKALA 

Of the lava openings on these islands, the extinct one of 
Haleakala, as stated, with its twenty-seven miles circumference, is 
far the most stupendous. It is easy of access, the mountain sides 
leading to it presenting a gentle slope ; while the walls of the crater, 
in places perpendicular, in others are so sloping that man and horse 
can descend them. The pit varies from 1 500 to 2000 feet in depth, 
its bottom being very irregular from the old lava flows and the 
many cinder cones, these still looking as fresh as though their fires 
had just gone out. Some of these cones are over 500 feet high. 
There is a tradition among the natives that the vast lava streams 
which in the past flowed from the crater to the sea continued to 
do so in the period of their remote ancestors. They still, indeed, 
appear as if recent, though there are to-day no signs of volcanic 
activity anywhere on this island. 

In fact, the only volcano now active in the Hawaiian Islands 
is Mauna Loa, in the southern section of the Island of Hawaii. A 
striking feature of this is that it has two distinct and widely discon* 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 337 

nected craters, one on its summit, the other on its flank, at a much 
lower level. The latter is the vast crater of Kilauea, the largest 
active crater known on the face of the globe, 

^ MISS BIRD IN THE CRATER OF KILAUEA 

We cannot offer a better description of the aspect of this 
lava abyss than to give Miss Bird's eloquent description of her 
adventurous descent into it : 

** The abyss, which really is at a height of four thousand feet 
on the flank of Mauna Loa, has the appearance of a pit on a roll- 
ing plain. But such a pit ! It is quite nine miles in circumfer- 
ence, and at its lowest area — which not long ago fell about three 
hundred feet, just as the ice on a pond falls when the water below 
is withdrawn — covers six square miles. The depth of the crater 
varies from eight hundred to one thousand feet, according as the 
molten sea below is at flood or ebb. Signs of volcanic activity are 
present more or less throughout its whole depth and for some dis- 
tance along its margin, in the form of steam-cracks, jets of sul- 
phurous vapor, blowing cones, accumulating deposits of acicular 
crystals of sulphur, etc., and the pit itself is constantly rent and 
shaken by earthquakes. Great eruptions occur with circumstances 
,of indescribable terror and dignity; but Kilauea does not limit its 
activity to these outbursts, but has exhibited its marvellous phe- 
nomena through all known time in a lake or lakes on the southern 
part of the crater three miles from this side. 

" This lake — the Hale-mau-fnau, or " House of Everlasting 
Fire", of the Hawaiian mythology, the abode of the dreaded god- 
dess Pele — is approachable with safety, except during an eruption. 
The spectacle, however, varies almost daily ; and at times the level 
of the lava in the pit within a pit is so low, and the suffocating 



238 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

g-ases are evolved in such enormous quantities, that travellers are 
unable to see anything. 

'* At the time of our visit there had been no news from it for 
a week ; and as nothing was to be seen but a very faint bluish vapor 
hanging round its margin, the prospect was not encouraging. After 
more than an hour of very difficult climbing, we reached the lowest 
level of the crater, pretty nearly a mile across, presenting from 
above the appearance of a sea at rest ; but on crossing it, we found 
it to be an expanse of waves and convolutions of ashy-colored lava, 
with huge cracks filled up with black iridescent rolls of lava only a 
few weeks old. Parts of it are very rough and ridgy, jammed 
together like field-ice, or compacted by rolls of lava, which may 
have swelled up from beneath ; but the largest part of the area 
presents the appearance of huge coiled hawsers, the ropy forma- 
tion of the lava rendering the illusion almost perfect. These are 
riven by deep cracks, which emit hot sulphurous vapors. 

" As we ascended, the flow became hotter under our feet, as 
well as more porous and glistening. It was so hot that a shower 
of rain hissed as it fell upon it. The crust became increasingly 
insecure, and necessitated our walking in single file with the guide 
in front, to test the security of the footing. I fell through several 
times, and always into holes full of sulphurous steam so malignantly 
acid that my strong dogskin gloves were burned through as I raised 
myself on my hands. 

" We had followed the lava-flow for thirty miles up to the 
crater's brink, and now we had toiled over recent lava for three 
hours, and, by all calculations, were close to the pit ; yet there was 
no smoke or sign of fire, and I felt sure that the volcano had died 
out for once for my special disappointment. 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 



339 



"Suddenly, just above and in front of us, gory drops were 
tossed in the air, and springing forwards, we stood on the brink of 
Hale-mau-mau, which was about thirty-five feet below us. I think 
we all screamed. I know we all wept ; but we were speechless, for 
a new glory and terror had been added to the earth. It is the most 
unutterable of wonderful things. The words of common speech 
are quite useless. It is unimaginable, indescribable ; a sight to 



pT C- — c^^'^^'^Sif;^ ' 



-^^^r^^ir^^^ 











CRATER OF KILAUEA, HAWAII 

Fiery Lake of Molten Lava 

remember forever ; a sight which at once took possession of every 
faculty of sense and soul, removing one altogether out of the range 
of ordinary life. Here was the real 'bottomless pit', 'the fire which 
is not quenched', 'the place of Hell', 'the lake which burneth 
with fire and brimstone', ' the everlasting burnings', ' the fiery 
sea whose waves are never weary'. Perhaps those Scripture 
phrases were suggested by the sight of some volcano in eruption. 



340 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

There were groanings, rumblings, and detonations ; ri^shings, hiss* 
ings, splashings, and the crashing sound of breakers on the coast ; 
but it was the surging of fiery waves upon a fiery shore. But what 
can I write ? Such words as jets, fountains, waves, spray, convey 
some idea of order and regularity, but here there are none. 

" The inner lake, while we stood there, formed a sort of crater 
within itself ; the whole lava sea rose about three feet ; a blowing 
cone about eight feet high was formed ; it was never the same two 
minutes together. And what we saw had no existence a month 
before, and probably will be changed in every essential feature a 
month from hence. The prominent object was fire in motion ; but 
the surface of the double lake was continually skimming over for a 
second or two with a cool crust of lustrous grey-white, like frost- 
silver, broken by jagged cracks of a bright rose-color. The move- 
ment was nearly always from the sides to the centre ; but the 
movement of the centre itself appeared independent, and always 
took a southerly direction. Before each outburst of agitation 
there was much hissing and throbbing, with internal roaring as of 
imprisoned gases. Now it seemed furious, demoniacal, as if no 
power on earth could bind it, then playful and sportive ; then for a 
second languid, but only because it was accumulating fresh force. 
Sometimes the whole lake took the form of mighty waves, and, 
surging heavily against the partial barrier with a sound like the 
Pacific surf, lashed, tore, covered it, and threw itself over it in 
clots of living fire. It was all confusion, commotion, forces, terror, 
glory, majesty, mystery, and even beauty. And the color, ' eye 
hath not seen' it ! Molten metal hath not that crimson gleam, nor 
blood that living light." 

To this description we may add that of Mr. Ellis, a former 
missionary to these islands, and one of the number who have 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 34 r 

descended to the shores of Kilauea's abyss of fire. He says, after 
describing his difficult descent and progress over the lava-strewn pit : 

MR. ELLIS VISITS THE LAKE OF LAVA 

" Immediately before us yawned an immense gulf, in the form 
of a crescent, about two miles in length, from northeast to south- 
west ; nearly a mile in width, and apparently 800 feet deep. The 
bottom was covered with lava, and the southwestern and northern 
parts of it were one vast flood of burning matter in a state of ter- 
rific ebullition, rolling to and fro its ' fiery surges ' and flaming 
billows. Fifty-one conical islands, of varied form and size, con- 
taining as many craters, rose either round the edge or from the 
surface of the burning lake ; twenty-two constantly emitted columns 
of gray smoke or pyramids of brilliant flame, and several of these 
at the same time vomited from their ignited mouths streams of 
lava, which rolled in blazing torrents down their black indented 
sides into the boiling mass below. 

" The existence of these conical craters led us to conclude 
that the boiling cauldron of lava before us did not form the focus of 
the volcano ; that this mass of melted lava was comparatively shal- 
low, and that the basin in which it was contained was separated by 
a stratum of solid matter from the great volcanic abyss, which con- 
stantly poured out its melted contents through these numerous 
craters into this upper reservoir. The sides of the gulf before us, 
although composed of different strata of ancient lava, were per- 
pendicular for about 400 feet, and rose from a wide horizontal 
ledge of solid black lava of irregular breadth, but extending com- 
pletely round. Beneath this ledge the sides sloped gradually towards 
the burning lake, which was, as nearly as we could judge, 300 or 
400 feet lower. 



342 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

" It was evident that the large crater had been recently filled 
with liquid lava up to this black ledge, and had, by some subterra- 
neous canal, emptied itself into the sea or spread under the low land 
on the shore. The gray and in some places apparently calcined sides 
of the great crater before us, the fissures which intersected the 
surface of the plain on which we were standing, the long banks of 
sulphur on the opposite side of the abyss, the vigorous action of 
the numerous small craters on its borders, the dense columns of 
vapor and smoke that rose at the north and west end of the plain, 
together with the ridge of steep rocks by which it was surrounded, 
rising probably in some places 300 or 400 feet in perpendicular 
height, presented an immense volcanic panorama, the effect of 
which was greatly augmented by the constant roaring of the vast 
furnaces below." 

MAUNA LOA IN ERUPTION 

Of the two great craters of Mauna Loa, the summit one has 
frequently in modern times overflowed its crest and poured its 
molten streams in glowing rivers over the land. This has rarely 
been the case with the lower and incessantly active crater of Kilauea, 
whose lava, when in excess, appears to escape by subterranean 
channels to the sea. We append descriptions of some of the more 
recent examples of Mauna Loa's eruptive energy. The lava from 
this crater does not alone flow over the crater's lip, but at times 
makes its way through fissures far below, the immense pressure 
causing it to spout in great flashing fountains high into the air. In 
1852 the fiery fountains reached a height of 500 feet. In some 
later eruptions they have leaped 1,000 feet high. The lava is 
white hot as it ascends, but it assumes a blood-red tint in its fall, 
and strikes the ground with a frightful noise. 



WONDERFUL HA WAIT AN CRA TERS :^43 

The quantities of lava ejected In some of the recent eruptions 
have been enormous. The river-like flow of 1855 ^^^ remarkable 
for its extent, being from two to eight miles wide, with a depth of 
from three to three hundred feet, and extending in a winding course 
for a distance of sixty miles. The Apostle of Hawaiian volcanoes, 
the Rev. Titus Coan, who ventured to the source of this flow while 
it was in supreme action, thus describes It : — 

" We ascended our rugged pathway amidst steam and smoke and 
heat which almost blinded and scathed us. We came to open 
orifices down which we looked into the fiery river which rushed 
madly under our feet. These fiery vents were frequent, some of 
them measuring ten, twenty, fifty or one hundred feet in diameter. 
In one place we saw the river of lava uncovered for thirty rods and 
rushing down a declivity of from ten to twenty-five degrees. The 
scene was awful, the momentum incredible, the fusion perfect (white 
heat), and the velocity forty miles an hour. The banks on each 
side of the stream were red-hot, jagged and overhanging. As we 
viewed it rushing out from under its ebon counterpane, and in the 
twinkling of an eye diving again into Its fiery den, it seemed to say, 
'Standoff! Scan me not! I am God's messenger. A work to 
do. Away !' " 

Later he wrote again : — " The great summit fountain is still 
playing with fearful energy, and the devouring stream rushes 
madly down toward us. It is now about ten miles distant, and 
heading directly for our bay. In a few days we may be called to 
announce the painful fa:;t that our beauteous Hilo is no more, — 
that our lovely, our inimitable landscape, our emerald bowers, our 
crescent strand and our silver bay are blotted out. A fiery sword 
hangs over us. A flood of burning ruin approaches us. Devour- 
ing fires are near us. With sure and solemn progress the glowing 



344 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

fusion advances through the dark forest and the dense jungle in 
our rear, cutting down ancient trees of enormous growth and 
sweeping away all vegetable life. For months the great summit 
furnace on Mauna Loa has been in awful blast. Floods of burn- 
ing destruction have swept wildly and widely over the top and 
down the sides of the mountain. The wrathful stream has over- 
come every obstacle, winding its fiery way from its high source to 
the bases of the everlasting hills, spreading in a molten sea over 
the plains, penetrating the ancient forests, driving the bellowing 
herds, the wild goats and the affrighted birds before its lurid 
glare, leaving nothing but ebon blackness and smoldering ruin in 
its track." 

His anticipation of the burial of Hilo under the mighty flow 
was happily not realized. It came to an abrupt halt while seven 
miles distant, the checked stream standing in a threatening and 
rugged ridge, with rigid, beetling front. 

THE ERUPTIONS OF 1859 AND 1865 

In January, 1859, Mauna Loa was again at its fire-play, throw- 
ing up lava fountains from 800 to 1,000 feet in height. From this 
great fiery fountain the lava flowed down in numerous streams, 
spreading over a width of five or six miles. One stream, probably 
formed by the junction of several smaller, attained a height of from 
twenty to twenty-five feet, and a breadth of about an eighth of a 
mile. Great stones were thrown up along with the jet of lava, and 
the volume of seeming smoke, composed probably of fine volcanic 
dust, is said to have risen to the height of 10,000 feet. 

An eruption of still greater violence took place in 1865, charac- 
terized by similar phenomena, particularly the throwing up of jets 
of lava. This fiery fountain continued to play without intermission 




FIGHTING FOR FOOD IN THE STREETS OF MESSINA. 

Earthquake and tidal wave had done their frightful work with merciless impartiality. Food 

was destroyed and the survivors of the first horrors were forced to battle for 

their existence even after they believed themselves miraculously 

saved from death. 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 345 

for twenty days and nights, varying only as respects the height to 
which the jet arose, which is said to have ranged between loo and 
i,ooo feet, the mean diameter of the jet being about lOO feet. 
This eruption was acconipanied by explosions so loud as to have 
been heard at a distance of forty miles. 

A cone of about 300 feet in height, and about a mile in circum- 
ference, was accumulated round the orifice whence the jet ascended. 
It was composed of solid matters ejected with the lava, and it con- 
tinued to glow like a furnace, notwithstanding its exposure to the 
air. The current of lava on this occasion flowed to a distance of 
thirty-five miles, burning its way through the forests, and filling the 
air with smoke and flames from the ignited timber. The glare 
from the glowing lava and the burning trees together was dis- 
cernible by night at a distance of 200 miles from the island. 

THE LAVA FLOW OF 1880 

A succeeding great lava flow was that which began on Novem- 
ber 6, 1880. Mr. David Hitchcock, who was camping on Mauna 
Kea at the time of this outbreak, saw a spectacle that few human 
eyes have ever beheld. "We stood," writes he, "on the very edge 
of that flowing river of rock. Oh, what a sight it was ! Not twenty 
feet from us was this immense bed of rock slowly moving forward 
with irresistible force, bearing on its surface huge rocks and immense 
boulders of tons' weight as water would carry a toy-boat. The 
whole front edge was one bright red mass of solid rock incessantly 
breaking off from the towering mass and rolling down to the foot 
of it, to be again covered by another avalanche of white-hot rocks 
and sand. The whole mass at its front edge was from twelve to 
thirty feet in height. Along the entire line of its advance it was 
one crash of rolling, sliding, tumbling red-hot rock. We could hear 



346 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

n© explosions while we were near the flow, only a tremendous roar- 
ing like ten thousand blast furnaces all at work at once." 

This was the most extensive flow of recent years, and its pro- 
gress from the interior plain through the dense forests above Hilo 
and out on to the open levels close to the town was startling and 
menacing enough. Through the woods especially it was a turbu- 
lent, seething mass that hurled down mammoth trees, and licked 
up streams of water, and day and night kept up an unintermitting 
cannonade of explosions. The steam and imprisoned gases would 
burst the congealing surface with loud detonations that could be 
heard for many miles. It was not an infrequent thing for parties 
to camp out close to the flow over night. Ordinarily a lava-flow 
moves sluggishly and congeals rapidly, so that what seems like 
hardihood in the narrating is in reality calm judgment, for it is per- 
fectly safe to be in the close vicinity of a lava-stream, and even to 
walk on its surface as soon as one would be inclined to walk on 
cooling iron in a foundry. This notable flow finally ceased within 
half a mile of Hilo, where its black form is a perpetual reminder of 
a marvellous deliverance from destruction. 

KILAUEA IN 1840 

Kilauea seems never, in historic times, to have filled and over- 
flowed its vast crater. To do so would need an almost inconceiv- 
able volume of liquid rock material. But it approached this cul- 
mination in 1840, when it became, through its whole extent, a raging 
sea of fire. The boiling lava rose in the mighty mountain-cup to a 
height of from 500 to 600 feet. Then it forced a passage through 
a subterranean cavity twenty-seven miles long, and reached the sea, 
forty miles distant, in two days. The stream where it fell into the sea 
was half a mile wide, and the flow kept up for three weeks, heating 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 347 

the ocean twenty miles from land. An eye-witness of this extraor- 
dinary flow thus describes it : 

" When the torrent of fire precipitated itself into the ocean, 
the scene assumed a character of terrific and indescribable grandeur. 
The magnificence of destruction was never more perceptibly dis- 
played than when these antagonistic elements met in deadly strife. 
The mightiest of earth's magazines of fire poured forth its burning 
billows to meet the mightiest of oceans. For two score miles it 
came rolling, tumbling, swelling forward, an awful agent of death. 
Rocks melted like wax in its path ; forests crackled and blazed 
before its fervent heat ; the works of man were to it but as a scroll 
in the flames. Imagine Niagara's stream, above the brink of the 
Falls, with its dashing, whirling, madly-raging waters hurrying on 
to their plunge, instantaneously converted into fire ; a gory-hued 
river of fused minerals ; volumes of hissing steam arising ; some 
curling upward from ten thousand vents, which give utterance to 
as many deep-toned mutterings, and sullen, confined clamxorings ; 
gases detonating and shrieking as they burst from their hot prison- 
house ; the heavens lurid with flame ; the atmosphere dark and 
oppressive ; the horiz^on murky with vapors and gleaming with the 
reflected contest ! 

" Such was the scene as the fiery cataract, leaping a precipice 
of fifty feet, poured its flood upon the ocean. The old line of 
coast, a mass of compact, indurated lava, whitened, cracked and 
fell. The waters recoiled, and sent forth a tempest of spray •, they 
foamed and dashed around and over the melted rock, they boiled 
with the heat, and the roar of the conflicting agencies grew fiercer 
and louder. The reports of the exploding gases were distinctly 
heard twenty-five miles distant, and were likened to a whole broad- 
side of heavy artillery. Streaks of the intensest light glanced like 



348 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

lightning in all directions ; the outskirts of the burning lava as it 
fell, cooled by the shock, were shivered into millions of fragments, 
and scattered by the strong wind in sparkling showers far into the 
country. For three successive weeks the volcano disgorged an 
uninterrupted burning tide, with scarcely any diminution, into the 
ocean. On either side, for twenty miles, the sea became heated, 
with such rapidity that, on the second day of the junction of the 
lava with the ocean, fishes came ashore dead in great numbers, at a 
point fifteen miles distant. Six weeks later, at the base of the hills, 
the water continued scalding hot, and sent forth steam at every 
wash of the waves." 

THE SINKING OF KILAUEA's FIRE-LAKE 

In 1866 the great crater of Kilauea presented a new and un- 
looked-for spectacle in the sinking and vanishing of its great lava 
lake. In March of that year the fires in the ancient cauldron 
totally disappeared, and the surrounding lava rock sank to a depth 
of nearly 600 feet. Mr. Thrum, in a pamphlet on "The Sus- 
pended Activity of Kilauea," says of it : 

" Distant rumbling noises were heard, accompanied by a series 
of earthquakes, forty-three in numben With the fourth shock the 
brilliancy of New Lake disappeared, and towards 3 A. m. the fires 
in Halemaumau disappeared also, leaving the whole crater in dark- 
ness. 

" With the dawn the shocks and noises ceased, and revealed the 
changes which Kilauea had undergone in the night. All the high 
cliffs surrounding Halemaumau and New Lake, which had become 
a prominent feature in the crater, had vanished entirely, and the 
molten lava of both lakes had disappeared by some subterranean 
passage from the bottom of Halemaumau There was no material 



WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 349 

change in the sunken portion of the crater except a continual falling 
in of rocks and debris from its banks as the contraction from its 
former intense heat loosened their compactness and sent them 
hurling some 200 or 300 feet below, giving forth at times a boom 
as of distant thunder, followed by clouds of cinders and ashes 
shooting up into the air 100 to 300 feet, proportionate, doubtless, 
to the size of the newly fallen mass." 

This remarkable recession of the liquid lava in Halemaumau 
was probably due to the opening of some deep subterranean pass- 
age through which the lake of lava made its way unseen to the 
ocean's depths. The Rev. Mr. Baker, probably the most adven- 
turesome explorer of Hawaiian volcanoes, actually descended into 
that crumbling pit to a point within what he judged to be fifty feet 
of the bottom. But Halemaumau had only taken an intermission, 
for in two short months signs of returning life became frequent 
and unmistakable, and. In June, culminated in the sudden outbreak 
of a lake that has since then steadily Increased in activity. 

THE GODDESS PELE 

We cannot close this chapter without some reference to the 
Goddess Pele, to whom the Hawallans long Imputed the wonder 
work of their volcanic mountains. When there is unusual com- 
motion In Kllauea myriads of thread-like filaments fioat In the air 
and fall upon the cliffs, making deposits much resembling matted ) 
hair. A single filament over fifteen inches long was picked up on 
a HIlo veranda, having sailed In the air a distance of fifty miles. 
This Is the famous Pele's Hair, being the glass-like product of 
volcanic fires. It resembles Prince Rupert's Drops, and the tradi- 
tion Is that whenever the volcano becomes active It is because Pele, 
the Goddess of the crater, emerges from her fiery furnace and shakes 
her vitreous locks in asisier. 



350 WONDERFUL HAWAIIAN CRATERS 

This fabled being, according to Emerson, in a paper on • The 
Lesser Hawaiian Gods," "could at times assume the appearance of 
a handsome young woman, as when Kamapuaa, to his cost, was 
smitten with her charms when first he saw her with her sisters at 
Kilauea." Kamapauaa was a gigantic hog, who "could appear as 
a handsome young man, a hog, a fish or a tree." "At other times 
the innate character of the fury showed itself, and Pele appeared 
in her usual form as an ugly and hateful old hag, with tattered and 
fire-burnt garments, scarcely concealing the filth and nakedness of 
her person. Her bloodshot eyes and fiendish countenance para- 
lized the beholder, and her touch turned him to stone. She was a 
jealous and vindictive monster, delighting in cruelty, and at the 
slightest provocation overwhelming the unoffending victims of her 
rage in widespread ruin." 

The superstition regarding the Goddess Pele was thought to 
have received a death blow in 1825, when Kapiolani, an Hawaiian 
princess and a Christian convert, ascended, with numerous attend- 
ants, to the crater of Kilauea, where she publicly defied the power 
and wrath of the goddess. No response came to her defiance, she 
descended in safety, and faith in Pele's power was widely shaken. 

Yet as late as 1887 the old superstition revived and claimed 
an exalted victim, for in that year the Princess Like Like, the 
youngest sister of the king, starved herself to death to appease 
the anger of the Goddess Pele, supposed to be manifested in 
Mauna Loa's eruption of that year, and to be quieted only by the 
sacrifice of a victim of royal blood. Thus slowly do the old super- 
stitions die away. 



CHAPTER XXVIIL 

Popocatapetl and Other Volcanoes of Mexico 
and Central America. 

MEXICO is very largely a vast table-land, rising through much 
of its extent to an elevation of from 7,000 to 8,000 feet 
above sea-level, and bounded east and west by wide 
strips of torrid lowlands adjoining the oceans. It is crossed 
at about 19° north latitude by a range of volcanic mountains, run- 
ning in almost a straight line east and west, upon which are several 
extinct volcanic cones, and five active or quiescent volcanoes. The 
highest of these is Popocatapetl, south of the city of Mexico and 
aearly midway between the Atlantic and Pacific. 

East of this mountain lies Orizabo, little below it in height, 
and San Martin or Tuxtla, 9,700 feet high, on the coast south of 
Vera Cruz. West of it is JoruUo, 4,000 feet, and Colima, 12,800, 
near the Pacific coast. The volcanic energy continues south- 
ward toward the Isthmus, but decreases north of this volcanic 
range. These mountains have shown little signs of activity in 
recent times. Popocatapetl emits smoke, but there is no record of 
an eruption since 1540. Orizabo has been quiet since 1566. Tuxtla 
had a violent eruption in 1793, but since then has remained quies- 
cent. Colima is the only one now active. For ten years past it 
has been emitting ashes and smoke. The most remarkable of 
these volcanoes is Jorullo, which closely resembled Monte Nuovo, 
described in Chapter XIIL, in its mode of origin. 

351 



352 VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO 

Popocatepetl, the hill that smokes, In the Mexican language, 
the huge mountain clothed in eternal snows, and regarded by the 
idolators of old as a god, towers up nearly 18,000 feet above the 
level of the sea, and in the days of the conquest of Mexico was a 
volcano in a state of fierce activity. It was looked upon by the 
natives with a strange dread, and they told the white strangers 
with awe that no man could attempt to ascend its slopes and yet 
live ; but, from a feeling of vanity, or the love of adventure, the 
Spaniards laughed at these fears, and accordingly a party of ten of 
the followers of Cortes commenced the ascent, accompanied by a 
few Indians. But these latter, after ascending about 13,000 feet 
to where the last remains of stunted vegetation existed, became 
alarmed at the subterranean bellowings of the volcano, and returned, 
while the Spaniards still painfully toiled on through the rarefied 
atmosphere, their feet crushing over the scoriae and black-glazed 
volcanic sand, until they stood in the region of perpetual snow, 
amidst the glittering, treacherous glaciers and crevasses, with vast 
slippery-pathed precipices yawning round. 

Still they toiled on in this wild and wondrous region. A few 
hours before they were in a land of perpetual summer ; here all 
was snow. They suffered the usual distress awarded to those who 
dare to ascend to these solitudes of nature but it was not given 
to them to achieve the summit, for suddenly, at a higher eleva- 
tion, after listening to various ominous threatenings from the 
interior of the volcano, they encountered so fierce a storm of 
smoke, cinders, and sparks, that they were driven back half suffo- 
cated to the lower portions of the mountain. 

Some time after another attempt was made ; and upon this 
occasion with a definite object. The invaders hac' nearly exhausted 
their stock of g^unpowder, and Cortes organi7ed a party to ascend 



VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO 353 

to the crater of the volcano, to seek and bring down sulphur for 
the manufacture of this necessary of warfare. This time the party 
numbered but five, led by one Francisco Montano ; and they expe- 
rienced no very great difficulty in winning their way upwards. 
The region of verdure gave place to the wild, lava-strewn slope, 
which was succeeded in its turn by the treacherous glaciers ; and 
at last the gallant little band stood at the very edge of the crater, 
a vast depression of over a league in circumference, and 1,000 feet 
in depth. 

SULPHUR FROM THE CRATER 

Flame was issuing from the hideous abysses, and the stoutest 
man's heart must have quailed as he peered down into the dim, 
mysterious cavity to where the sloping sides were crusted with 
bright yellow sulphur, and listened to the mutterings which warned 
him of the pent-up wrath and power of the mighty volcano. They 
knew that at any moment flame and stifling sulphurous vapor 
might be belched forth, but now no cowardice was shown. They 
had come provided with ropes and baskets, and it only remained 
to see who should descend. Lots were therefore drawn, and it fell 
to Montano, who was accordingly lowered by his followers in a 
basket 400 feet into the treacherous region of eternal fires. 

The basket swayed and the rope quivered and vibrated, but 
the brave cavalier sturdily held to his task, disdaining to show fear 
before his humble companions. The lurid light from beneath 
flashed upon his tanned features, and a sulphurous steam rose 
slowly and condensed upon the sides; but, whatever were his 
thoughts, the Spaniard collected as much sulphur as he could take 
up with him, breaking off the bright incrustations, and even dally- 
ing with his task as if in contempt of the danger, till he had leisurely 
fiiled his basket, when the signal was given and he was drawn up. 
23 



354 VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO 

The basket was emptied, and then he once more descended into 
the lurid crater, collected another store and was again drawn up ; 
but far from shrinking from his task, he descenced again several 
times, till a sufficiency had been obtained, with which the party 
descended to the plain. 

THE VOLCANO JORULLO 

No further back than the middle of the eighteenth century the 
site of Jorullo was a level plain, including several highly-cultivated 
fields, which formed the farm of Don Pedro di Jorullo. The plain 
was watered by two small rivers, called Cuitimba and San Pedro, 
and was bounded by mountains composed of basalt — the only indi- 
cations of former volcanic action. These fields were well irrigated, 
and among the most fertile in the country, producing abundant 
crops of sugar-cane and indigo. 

In the month of June, 1759, the cultivators of the farm began 
to be disturbed by strange subterranean noises of an alarming kind, 
accompanied by frequent shocks of earthquake, which continued 
for nearly a couple of months ; but they afterward entirely ceased, 
so that the inhabitants of the place were lulled into security. On 
the night between the 28th and 29th of September, however, the 
subterranean noises were renewed with greater loudness than 
before, and the ground shook severely. The Indian servants 
living on the place started from their beds in terror, and fled to 
the neighboring mountains. Thence gazing upon their master's 
farm they beheld it, along with a tract of ground measuring be- 
tween three and four square miles, in the midst of which it stood, 
rise up bodily, as if it had been inflated from beneath like a blad- 
der. At the edges this tract was uplifted only about 39 feet above 
the original surface, but so great was its convexity that toward the 
middle it attained a height of no less than 524 feet. 



VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO 



355 



1 he Indians who beheld this strange phenomenon declared 
that they saw llames issuing from several parts of this elevated 
tract, that the entire surface became agitated like a stormy sea, that 
great clouds of ashes, illuminated by volcanic fires glowing beneath 
them, rose at several points, and that white-hot stones were thrown 
to an immense heigfht. Vast chasms were at the same time 
opened in the ground, and into these the two small rivers above 




JORULLO, THE GREAT MEXICAN VOLCANO 

mentioned plunged. Their waters, instead of extinguishing the 
subterranean conflagration, seemed only to add to its intensity. 
Quantities of mud, enveloping balls of basalt, were then thrown 
up, and the surface of the elevated ground became studded with 
small cones, from which volumes of dense vapor, chiefly steam, 
were emitted, some of the jets rising from 20 to 30 feet in height. 
These cones the Indians called ovens, and in many of them 
was long heard a subterranean noise resembling that of water 



356 VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO 

briskly boiling. Out of a great chasm in the midst of those ovens 
there were thrown up six larger elevations, the highest being 1,640 
feet above the level of the plain, 4,315 above sea level, and now 
constituting the principal volcano of JoruUo. The smallest of the 
six was 300 feet in height ; the others of intermediate elevation 
The highest of these hills had on its summit a regular volcanic 
crater, whence there have been thrown up great quantities of dross 
and lava, contai ling fragments of older rocks. The ashes were 
transported to immense distances, some of them havino- fallen on 
the houses at Queretaro, more than forty-eight leagues from Jorullo. 
The volcano continued in this energetic state of activity for about 
four months ; in the following years its eruptions became less fre- 
quent, but it still continues to emit volumes of vapor from the 
principal crater, as well as from many of the ovens in the upheaved 
ground. 

EFFECT ON THE RIVERS 

The two rivers, which disappeared on the first night of this 
great eruption, now pursue an underground course for about a mile 
and a quarter, and then reappear as hot springs, with a temperature 
of 126° F. 

This wonderful volcanic upheaval is all the more remarkable, 
from the inland situation of the plain on which it occurred, it 
being no less than 1 20 miles distant from the nearest ocean, while 
there is no other volcano nearer to it than 80 miles. The activity 
of the ovens has now ceased, and portions of the upheaved plain 
on which they are situated have again been brought under cultiva- 
tion, and the volcano is in a state of quiescence. 

The crater of Popocatepetl, which towers to a height of 
1 7,000 feet, is a vast circular basin, whose nearly vertical walls are 
in some parts of a pale rose tint, in others quite black. The 



VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO Z57 

bottom contains several small fuming cones, whence arise vapors of 
changeable color, being successively red, yellow and white. All 
round them are large deposits of sulphur, which are worked for 
mercantile purposes. 

Orizaba has a little less lofty snow-clad peak. This mountain 
was in brisk volcanic activity from 1545 to 1560, but has since then 
relapsed into a prolonged repose. It was climbed, in 1856, by 
Baron Miiller, to whose mind the crater appeared like the entrance 
to a lower world of horrible darkness. He was struck with aston- 
ishment on contemplating the tremendous forces required to elevate 
and rend such enormous masses — to melt them, and then pile them 
up like towers, until by cooling they became consolidated into their 
present forms. The internal walls of the crater are in many places 
coated with sulphur, and at the bottom are several small volcanic 
craters. At the time of his visit the summit v^ras wholly covered 
with snow, but the Indians affirmed that hot vapors occasionally 
ascend from fissures in the rocks. Since then others have reached 
its summit, among them Angelo Heilprin, the first to gaze into the 
crater of Mont Pelee after its eruption. 

ERUPTIONS IN NICARAGUA 

On the 14th of November, 1867, there commenced an eruption 
from a mountain about eight leagues to the eastward of the city of 
Leon, in Nicaragua. This mountain does not appear to have been 
previously recognized as an active volcano, but it is situated in a 
very volcanic country. The outburst had probably some connec- 
tion with the earthquake at St. Thomas, which took place on the 
1 8th of November following. The mountain continued in a state of 
activity for about sixteen days. There was thrown out an immense 
quantity of black sand, which was carried as far as to the coast of 



358 VOLCANIC WORK IN MEXICO 

the Pacific, fifty miles distant. Glowing stones were projected from 
the crater to an estimated height of three thousand feet. 

Central America is more prolific of volcanoes than Mexico, 
and the State of Guatemala in particular. One authority credits 
this State with fifteen or sixteen and another with more than thirty > 
volcanic cones. Of these at least five are decidedly active. Taju- 
malco, which was in eruption at the time of the great earthquake 
of 1863, yields great quantities of sulphur, as also does Quesalte- 
nango. The mos-t famous is the Volcan de Agua (Water Vol- 
cano), so called from its overwhelming the old city of Guatemala 
with a torrent of water in 1541. 

Nicaragua is also rich in volcanoes, being traversed its entire 
length by a remarkable chain of isolated volcanic cones, several of 
which are to some extent active. We have already told the story 
of the tremendous eruption of Coseguina in 1835, one of the most 
violent of modern times. The latest important eruption here was 
that of Ometepec, a volcanic mount on an island of the same name 
in Lake Nicaragua. This broke a long period of repose on June 
19, 1883, with a severe eruption, in which the lava, pouring from a 
new crater, in seven days overflov/ed the whole island and drove 
off its population. Incessant rumblings and earthquake shocks 
accompanied the eruption, and mud, ashes, stones and lava covered 
the mountain slopes, which had been cultivated for many centuries. 
These were the most recent strong displays of volcanic energy in 
Central America, though former great outflows of lava are indi« 
cated by great fields of barren rock, which extend for miles. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Terrible Eruption of Krakatoa. 

THE most destructive volcanic explosion of recent times, one 
perhaps unequalled in violence in all times, was that of the 
small mountain island of Krakatoa, in the East Indian Archi- 
pelago, in 1883. This made its effects felt round the entire globe, 
and excited such wide attention that we feel called upon to give it 
a chapter of its own. 

The island of Krakatoa lies in the Straits of Sunda, between 
Java and Sumatra. In size it is insignificant, and had been silent 
so long that its volcanic character was almost lost sight of. Of its 
early history we know nothing. At some remote time in the past 
it may have appeared as a large cone, of some twenty-five miles in 
circumference at base and not less than 10,000 feet high. Then, 
still in unknov/n times, its cone was blown away by internal forces, 
leaving only a shattered and irregular crater ring. This crater was 
two or three miles in diameter, while the highest part of its walls 
rose only a few hundred feet above the sea. Later volcanic work 
built UD a number of small cones within the crater, and still later a 
new cone, called Rakata, rose on the edge of the old one to a height 
of 2,623 feet. 

The first known event in the history of the island volcano was 
an eruption in the year 1680. After that it lay in repose, forming 
a group of islands, one much larger than the others. Some of the 
smaller islands indicated the rim of the old crater, much of which 

359 



36o TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

was burled under the sea. Its state of quiescence continued for 
two centuries, a tropical vegetation richly mantled the island, and 
to all appearance it had sunk permanently to rest. 

Indications of a coming change appeared in 1880, in the 
form of earthquakes, which shook all the region around. These 
continued at intervals for more that two years. Then, on May 20, 
1883, there were heard at Batavia, a hundred miles avv^ay, "booming 
sounds like the firing of artillery." Next day the captain of a vessel 
passing through the Straits saw that Krakatoa vv^as in eruption, 
sending up clouds of smoke and showers of dust and pumice. The 
smoke was estimated to reach a height of seven miles, while the 
volcanic dust drifted to localities 300 miles away, 

AWFUL PREMONITIONS 

The mountain continued to play for about fourteen weeks 
with varying activity, several parties meanwhile visiting it and 
making observations. Such an eruption, in ordinary cases, would 
have ultimately died away, with no marked change other than per- 
haps the ejection of a stream of lava. But such was not now the 
case. The sequel was at once unexpected and terrible. As the 
island was uninhabited, no one actually saw what took place, those 
nearest to the scene of the eruption having enough to do to save 
their own lives, while the dense clouds of vapor and dust bailed 
observation. 

The phase of greatest violence set in on Sunday, August 26th. 
Soon after midday sailors on passing ships saw that the island had 
vanished behind a dense cloud of black vapor, the height of which 
was estimated at not less than seventeen miles. At intervals fright- 
ful detonations resounded, and after a time a rain of pumice began 
to fall at places ten miles distant. For miles round fierce flashes 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 361 

of lightning- rent the vapor, and at a distance of fully forty miles 
ghostly corposants gleamed on the rigging of a vessel. 

These phenomena grew more and more alarming until August 
27th, when four explosions of fearful intensity shook earth and sea 
and air, the third being "far the most violent and productive of the 
most widespread results." It was, in fact, perhaps the most tre- 
mendous volcanic outburst, in its intensity, known in human his- 
tory. It seemed to overcome the obstruction to the energy of the 
internal forces, for the eruption now declined, and in a day or two 
practically died away, though one or two coinparatively insignificant 
outbursts took place later, 

FAR-REACHING DESTRUCTION 

The eruption spread ruin and death oyer many surrounding 
leagues. At Krakotoa itself, when men once more reached its 
shores, everything was found to be changed. About two-thirds of 
the main island were blown completely away. The marginal cone 
was cut nearly in half vertically, the new cliff falling precipitously 
toward the centre of the crater. Where land had been before now 
sea existed, in some places more than one hundred feet deep. But 
the part of the island that remained had been somewhat increased 
in size by ejected materials. 

Of the other islands and Islets sonic had disappeared ; some 
were partially destroyed ; some were enlarged by fallen debris, 
while many changes had taken place in the depth of the neighboring 
sea-bed. Two new islands, Steers and Calmeyer, were formed. The 
ejected pumice, so cavernous in structure is ^0 float upon the water, 
at places formed great floating islands which covered the sea for 
m»les, and sometimes rose from four to seven feet above it, proving 
9 serious obstacle to navigation. On vessels near by dust fell to 



362 TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

the depth of eighteen inches. The enormous clouds of volcanic 
dust which had been flung high into the air darkened the sky 
for a great area around. At Batavia, about a hundred miles from 
the volcano, it produced an effect not unlike that of a London fog. 
This began about seven in the morning of August 27th. Soon 
after ten the light had become lurid and yellow, and lamps were 
required in the houses ; then came a downfall of rain, mingled with 
dust, and by about half-past eleven the town was in complete dark- 
ness. It soon after began to lighten, and the rain to diminish, and 
about three o'clock it had ceased. 

At Buitenzorg, twenty miles further away, the conditions were 
similar, but lasted for a shorter time. In places much farther away 
the upper sky presented a strangely murky aspect, and the sun 
assumed a green color. Phenomena of this kind were traced over 
a broad area of the globe, even as far as the Hawaiian Islands, 
while over a yet wider area the sky after sunset was lit up by after- 
glows of extraordinary beauty. The height to which the dust was 
projected has been calculated from various data, with the result 
that 121,500 feet, or nearly 25 miles, is thought to be a probable 
maximum estimate, though it may be that occasional fragments of 
larger size were shot up to a still greater height. 

A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE ERUPTION 

Another effect, of a distressing character, followed the erup- 
tion. A succession of enormous waves, emanating from Krakatoa, 
traversed the sea, and swept the coast bordering the Straits of 
Sunda with such force as to destroy many villages on the low-lying 
shores in Java, Sumatra and other islands. Some buildings at a 
height of fifty feet above sea-level were washed away, and in some 
places the water rose higher, in one place reaching the height of 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION Of KRAKATOA 3G3 

f 15 feet. At Telok Betong, in Sumatra, a ship was carried inland 
a distance of nearly two miles, and left stranded at a height of thirty 
feet above the sea. 

The eruption of Krakatoa seems to have been due to some 
deep-lying causes of extraordinary violence, this appearing not only 
in the terrible explosion which tore the island to fragments and 
sent its remnants as floating dust many miles high into the air, but 
also from an internal convulsion that affected many of the vol- 
canoes of Java, which almost simultaneously broke into violent 
eruption. We extract from Dr. Robert Bonney's " Our Earth and 
its Story " a description of these closely-related events. 

" The disturbances originated on the island of Krakatoa, with 
eruptions of red hot stones and ashes, and by noon next day 
Semeru, the largest of the Javanese volcanoes, was reported to be 
belching forth flames at an alarming rate. The eruption soon 
spread to Gunung Guntur and other mountains, until more than a 
third of the forty-five craters of Java were either in activity or 
seriously threatening it. 

" Just before dusk a great cloud hung over Gunung Guntur, 
and the crater of the volcano began to emit enormous streams of 
white sulphurous mud and lava, which Vv^ere rapidly succeeded by 
explosions, followed by tremendous showers of cinders and enor- 
mous fragments of rock, which were hurled high into the air and 
scattered in all directions, carrying death and destruction with them. 
The overhanging clouds were, moreover, so charged with elec- 
tricity that water-spouts added to the horror of the scene. The 
eruption continued all Saturday night, and next day a dense cloud, 
shot with lurid red, gathered over the Kedang range, intimating that 
an eruption had broken out there. 



36^ TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKAl^OA 

^' This proved to be the case, for soon after streams of lava 
poured down the mountain sides into the valleys, sweeping every- 
thing before them. About two o'clock on Monday morning — we 
are drawing on the account of an eye-witness — the great cloud sud- 
denly broke into small sections and vanished. When light came it 
was seen that an enormous tract of land, extending from Point 
Capucin on the south, and Negery Passoerang on the north and 
west, to the lowest point, covering about fifty square miles, had 
been temporarily submerged by the 'tidal wave.' Here were 
situated the vilages of Negery and Negery Babawang. Few of 
the inhabitants of these places escaped death. This section of the 
island was less densely populated than the other portions, and the 
loss of life was comparatively small, although it must have aggre- 
gated several thousands. The waters of Welcome Bay in the 
Sunda Straits, Pepper Bay on the east, and the Indian Ocean on 
the south, had rushed in and formed a sea of turbulent waves. 

DETONATIONS HEARD FOR MANY MILES AWAY 

" On Monday night the volcano of Papandayang was in an 
active state of paroxysmal eruption, accompanied by detonations 
which are said to have been heard for many miles away. In 
Sumatra three distinct columns of flame were seen to rise from a 
mountain to a vast height, and its whole surface was soon covered 
with fiery lava streams, which spread to great distances on all sides. 
Stones fell for miles around, and black fragmentary m^atter carried 
into the air caused total darkness. A whirlwind accompanied the 
eruption, by which house-roofs, trees, men, and horses were swept 
into the air. The quantity of matter ejected was such as to cov^ 
the ground and the roofs of the houses at Denamo to the depth of 
several inches. Suddenly the scene changed. At first it was 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 365 

reported that Papandayang had been split into seven distinct peaks. 
This proved untrue ; but in the open seams formed could be seen 
s^reat balls of molten matter. From the fissures poured forth 
clouds of steam and black lava, which, flowing in steady streams, 
ran slowly down the mountain sides, forming beds 200 or 300 feet 
in extent. y\t the entrance to Batavia was a large group of houses 
extending along the shore, and occupied by Chinamen. This por- 
tion of the city was entirely destroyed, and not many of the 
Chinese who lived on the swampy plains managed to save their 
lives. They stuck to their homes till the waves came and washed 
them away, fearing torrents of flame and lava more than torrents 
of water. 

"Of the 3,500 Europeans and Americans in Batavia — which foi 
several hours was in darkness, owing to the fall of ashes — 800 
perished at Anjer. The European and American quarter was first 
overwhelmed by rocks, mud and lava from the crater, and then the 
waters came up and swallowed the ruins, leaving nothing to mark 
the site, and causing the loss of about 200 lives of the inhabitants 
and those who sought refuge there." 

The loss of life above mentioned was but a small fraction of 
the total loss. All along the coasts of the adjoining large islands 
towns and villages were swept away and their inhabitants drowned, 
till the total loss was, as nearly as could be estimated, 36,000 souls. 
Krakatoa thus surpassed Mont Pelee in its tale of destruction. 
These two, indeed, have been the most destructive to life of known 
volcanic explosions, since the volcano usually falls far short of the 
earthquake in its murderous results. 

The distant effects of this explosion were as remarkable as the 
near ones. The concussion of the air reached to an unprecedented 
distance and the clouds of Hoatino: dust encircled the earth. 



366 TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

producing striking phenomena of which an account is given at the 
end of this chapter. 

The rapidity with which the effects of the Krakatoa eruption 
made themselves evident in all parts of the earth is perhaps the 
most remarkable outcome of this extraordinary event. The floating 
pumice reached the harbor of St. Paul on the 22nd of March, 1884, 
after having made a voyage of some two hundred and sixty days 
at a rate of six-tenths of a mile an hour. Immense quantities of 
pumice of a similar description, and believed to have been derived 
from the same source, reached Tamatave in Madagascar five months 
later, and no doubt much of it long continued to float round the 
world. 

SERIES OF ATMOSPHERIC WAVES 

Another result of the eruption was the series of atmospheric 
waves, caused by the disturbance in the atmosphere, which affected 
the barometer over the entire world. The velocity with which 
these waves traveled has been variously estimated at from 912.09 
feet to 1066.29 feet per second. This speed is, of course, very 
much inferior to that at which sound travels through the air. Yet, 
in three distinct cases, the noise of the Krakatao explosions was 
plainly heard at a distance of at least 2,200 miles, and in one in- 
stance — that recorded from Rodriguez — of nearly 3,000. The 
sound travelled to Ceylon, Burmah, Manila, New Guinea and West- 
ern Australia, places, however, within a radius of about 2,000 miles ; 
out Diego Garcia lies outside that area, and Rodriguez a thousand 
miles beyond it. Six days subsequent to the explosion, after the 
atmospheric waves had traveled four times round the globe, the 
barometer was still affected by them. 

Another result, similar in kind, was the extraordinary dissemi- 
nation of the great ocean wave, which in a like manner seems to have 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 367 

encircled the earth, since high waves, without evident cause, appear- 
ed not only in the Pacific, but at many places on the Atlantic coast 
within a few days after the event. They were observed alike in 
England and at New York. The writer happened to be at Atlantic 
City, on the New Jersey coast, at this time. It was a period of 
calm, the winds being at rest, but, unheralded, there came in an 
ocean wave of such height as to sweep aPway the ocean-front board- 
walk and do much other damage. He ascribed this strange wave 
at the time to the Krakatoa explosion, and is of the same opinion 
still. 

In addition to the account given of this extraordinary volcanic 
event, it seems desirable to give Sir Robert S. Ball's description 
of it in his recent work, "The Earth's Beginnings." While re- 
peating to some extent what we have already said, it is worthy, 
from its freshness of description and general readability, of a place 
here. 

SIR ROBERT S. BALL's DESCRIPTION 

"Until the year 1883 few had ever heard of Krakatoa. It 
was unknown to fame, as are hundreds of other gems of glorious 
vegetation set in tropical waters. It was not inhabited, but the 
natives from the surrounding shores of Sumatra and Java used 
occasionally to draw their canoes up on its beach, while they 
roamed through the jungle in search of the wild fruits that there 
abounded. It was known to the mariner who navigated the Straits 
of Sunda, for it was marked on his charts as one of the perils of 
the intricate navigation in those waters. It was no doubt recorded 
that the locality had been once, or more than once, the seat of an 
active volcano. In fact, the island seemed to owe its existence to 
some frightful eruption of by-gone days ; but for a couple of cen- 
turies there had been no fresh outbreak. It almost seemed as if 



368 TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

Krakatoa might be regarded as a volcano that had become extinct. 
In this respect it would only be like many other similar objects all 
over the globe, or like the countless extinct volcanoes all over the 
moon. 

"As the summer of 1883 advanced the vigor of Krakatoa, 
which had sprung into notoriety at the beginning of the year, 
steadily increased and the noises became more and more vehement ; 
these were presently audible on shores ten miles distant, and then 
twenty miles distant ; and still those noises waxed louder and 
louder, until the great thunders of the volcano, now so rapidly 
developing, astonished the inhabitants that dwelt over an area at 
least as large as Great Britain. And there were other symptoms 
of the approaching catastrophe. With each successive convulsion 
a quantity of fine dust was projected aloft into the clouds. The 
wind could not carry this dust away as rapidly as it was hurled 
upward by Krakatoa, and accordingly the atmosphere became 
heavily charged with suspended particles. 

"A pall of darkness thus hung over the adjoining seas and 
islands. Such was the thickness and density of these atmospheric 
volumes of Krakatoa dust that, for a hundred miles around, the 
darkness of midnight prevailed at midday. Then. the awful trag- 
edy of Krakatoa took place. Many thousands of the unfortunate 
inhabitants of the adjacent shores of Sumatra and Java were des- 
tined never to behold the sun again. They were presently swept 
away to destruction in an invasion of the shore by the tremendous 
waves with which the seas surrounding Krakatoa were agitated. 

"As the days of August passed by the spasms of Krakatoa 
waxed more and more vehement. By the middle of that nionth 
the panic was widespread, for the supreme catastrophe was at hand. 
On the night of Sunday, August 26, 1883, the blackness of the 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 369 

dust-clouds, now much thicker than ever in the Straits of Sunda 
and adjacent parts of Sumatra and Java, was only occasionally 
illumined by lurid flashes from the volcano. 

"At the town of Batavia, a hundred miles distant, there was 
no quiet that night. The houses trembled with subterranean vio- 
lence, and the windows rattled as if heavy artillery were being dis- 
charged in the streets. And still these efforts seemed to be only 
rehearsing for the supreme display. By ten o'clock on the moru' 
ing of Monday, August 27, 1883, the rehearsals were over, and the 
performance began. An overture, consisting of two or three intro- 
ductory explosions, was succeeded by a frightful convulsion which 
tore away a large part of the island of Krakatoa and scattered it 
to the winds of heaven. In that final outburst all records of pre- 
vious explosions on this earth were completely broken. 

AN EXTRAORDINARY NOISE 

"This supreme effort it was which produced the mightest 
noise that, so far as we can ascertain, has ever been heard on this 
globe. It must have been indeed a loud noise which could travel 
from Krakatoa to Batavia and preserve its vehemence over so 
great a distance ; but we should form a very inadequate conception 
of the energy of the eruption of Krakatoa if we thought that its 
sounds were heard by those merely a hundred miles off. This 
would be little indeed compared with what is recorded on testimony 
which it is impossible to doubt. 

" Westward from Krakatoa stretches the wide expanse of the 
Indian Ocean. On the opposite side from the Straits of Sunda lies 
the island of Rodriguez, the distance from Krakatoa being almost 
three thousand miles. It has been proved by evidence which can- 
not be doubted that the thunders of the g^reat volcano attracted the 
24 



370 TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

attention of an intelligent coast-guard on Rodriguez, who carefully 
noted the character of the sounds and the time of their occurrence 
He had heard them just four hours after the actual explosion, for 
this is the time the sound occupied on its journey. 

A CONSTANT WIND 

" This mighty incident at Krakatoa has taught us other les- 
sons on the constitution of our atmosphere. We previously knew 
little, or I might say almost nothing, as to the conditions prevail- 
ing above the height of ten miles overhead. It was Krakatoa which 
first gave us a little information which was greatly wanted. How 
could we learn what winds were blowing at a height four times as 
great as the loftiest mountain on the earth, and twice as great as 
the loftiest altitude to which a balloon has ever soared ? No doubt 
a straw will show which way the wind blows, but there are no straws 
up there. There was nothing to render the winds perceptible until 
Krakatoa came to our aid. Krakatoa drove into those winds pro- 
digious quantities of dust. Hundreds of cubic miles of air were 
thus deprived of that invisibility which they had hitherto main- 
tained. 

" With eyes full of astonishment men watched those vast vol- 
umes of Krakatoa dust on a tremendous journey. Of course, every 
one knows the so-called trade-winds on our earth's surface, which 
blow steadily in fixed directions, and which are of such service to 
the mariner. But there is yet another constant wind. It was first 
disclosed by Krakatoa, Before the occurrence of that eruption, no 
one had the slightest suspicion that far up aloft, twenty miles over 
our heads, a mighty tempest is incessantly hurrying, with a speed 
much greater than that of the awful hurricane which once laid so 
large a part of Calcutta on the ground and slew so many of its 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 371 

inhabitants. Fortunately for Tiumanity, this new trade-wind does 
not come within less than twenty miles of the earth's surface. We 
are thus preserved from the fearful destruction that its unintermit- 
tent blasts wouH produce, blasts against which no tree could stand, 
and which would, in ten minutes, do as much damage to a city as 
would the most violent earthquake. When this great wind had 
become chargi^d with the dust of Krakatoa, then, for the first, and, 
I may add, for the only time, it stood revealed to human vision. 
Then it was seen that this wind circled round the earth in the 
vicinity of the equator, and completed its circuit in about thirteen 
days. 

A VAST CLOUD OY DUST 

"The dust manufactured by the supreme convulsion was 
whirled round the earth in the mighty atmospheric current into 
which the volcano discharged it. As the dust-cloud was swept 
along by this incomparable hurricane it showed its presence in the 
most glorious manner by decking the sun and the moon in hues of 
unaccustomed splendor and beauty. The blue color in the sky 
under ordinary circumstances is due to particles in the air, and 
when the ordinary motes of the sunbeam were reinforced by the 
introduction of the myriads of motes produced by Krakatoa even 
the sun itself sometimes showed a blue tint. Thus the progress of 
the great dust-cloud was traced out by the extraordinary sky effects 
it produced, and from the progress of the dust-cloud we inferred 
the movements of the invisible air current which carried it along. 
Nor need it be thought that the quantity of material projected 
from Krakatoa should have been inadequate to produce effects of 
this world-wide description. Imagine that the material which was 
blown to the winds of heaven by the supreme convulsion of Kra- 
katoa could be all recovered and swapt into one vast heap. Imagine 



372 TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

that the heap were to have its bulk measured by a vessel consisting 
of a cube one mile long, one mile broad and one mile deep ; it has 
been estimated that even this prodigious vessel would have to be 
filled to the brim at least ten times before all the products of Kra- 
katoa had been measured." 

It is not specially to the quantity of material ejected from 
Krakatoa that it owes its reputation. Great as it was, it has been 
much surpassed. Professor Judd says that the great eruptions of 
Papapandayang, in Java, in 1772, of Skaptur Jokull, in Iceland, in 
1783, and of Tamboro, in Sumbawa, in 181 5, were marked by the 
extrusion of much larger quantities of material. The special 
feature of the Krakatoa eruption was its extreme violence, which 
flung volcanic dust to a height probably never before attained, and 
produced sea and air waves of an intensity unparalleled in the 
records of volcanic action. Judd thinks this was due to the situa- 
tion of the crater, and the possible inflow through fissures of a great 
volume of sea water to the interior lava, the result being the sudden 
production of an enormous volume of steam. 

EXTRAORDINARY RED SUNSETS 

The red sunsets spoken of above were so extraordinary in 
character that a fuller description of them seems advisable. A 
remarkable fact concerning them is the great rapidity with which 
they were disseminated to distant regions of the earth. They ap- 
peared around the entire equatorial zone in a few days after the 
eruption, this doubtless being due to the great rapidity with which 
the volcanic dust was carried by the upper air current. They were 
seen at Rodriguez, 3,000 miles away, on August 28, and within a 
week in every part of the torrid zone. From this zone they spread 
north and south with less rapidity. Their first appearance in Aus- 
tralia was on September 15th, and at the Cape of Good Hope on 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA ^jt, 

the 2GLn, On the latter day they were observed in California and 
the Southern United States. They were first seen in England on 
November 9th. Elsewhere in Europe and the United States they 
appeared from November 20th to 30th. 

The effect lasted in some instances as long as an hour and 
three-quarters after sunset. In India the sun and skies assumed a 
greenish hue, and there was much curiosity regarding the cause of 
the "green sun." Another remarkable phenomenon of this period 
was the great prevalence of rain during the succeeding winter. 
This probably was due to the same cause ; that is, to the fact of 
the air being so filled with dust; the prevailing theory in regard to 
rain being that the existence of dust in the air is necessary to its 
fall. The vapor of the air concentrates into drops around such 
minute particles, the result being that where dust is absent rain 
cannot fall. 

As regards the sunsets spoken of, there are three similar instances 
on record. The first of these was in the year 526, when a dry fog 
covered the Roman Empire with a red haze. Nothing further is 
known concerning it. The other instances were in the years 1783 
and 1 83 1. The former of these has been traced to the great 
eruption of Skaptur Jokull in that year. It lasted for several 
months as a pale blue haze, and occasioned so much obscurity that 
the sun was only visible when twelve degrees above the horizon, 
and then it had a blood-red appearance. Violent thunderstorms 
were associated with it, thus assimilating it with that of 1883. 
Alike in 1783 and 1831 there was a pearly, phosphorescent gleam 
in the atmosphere, by which small print could be read at midnight 
We know nothing regarding the meteorological conditions of 1831. 

The red sunsets of 1883 were remarkable for their long per- 
sistence. They were observed in the autumn of 1884 with almost 



374 TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 

their original brilliancy, and they were still visible in 1885, being 
seen at intervals, as if the dust was then distributed in patches, 
and driven about by the winds. In fact, similar sunsets were occa- 
sionally visible for several years afterwards. These may well have 
been due to the same cause, when we consider with what extreme 
slowness very fine dust makes its way through the air, and how 
much it may be affected by the winds. 

THE RED SUNSETS DESCRIBED 

One writer describes the appearance of these sunsets in the 
following terms : " Immediately after sunset a patch of white light 
appeared ten or fifteen degrees above the horizon, and shone for 
ten minutes with a pearly lustre. Beneath it a layer of bright red 
rested on the horizon, melting upward into orange, and this passed 
into yellow light, which spread around the lucid spot. Next the 
white light grew of a rosy tint, and soon became an intense rose 
hue. A vivid golden oriole yellow strip divided it from the red 
fringe below and the rose red above." This description, although 
exaggerated, represents the general conditions of the phenomenon. 

On October 20th, 1884, the author observed the sunset effect 
as follows : 'Immediately after the sun had set, a broad cone of 
silvery lustre rested upon a horizon of smoky pink. After fifteen 
minutes the white became rose color above and yellowish below, 
deepening to lemon color, and finally into reddish tint, while the 
rose faded out. The whole cone gradually sank and died away in 
the brownish red flush on the horizon, more than an hour after sun- 
set. The time of duration varied, since, on the succeeding evening, 
it lasted only a half-hour. These sunset effects, if we can justly 
attribute them all to the Krakatoa eruption, were extraordinary 



TERRIBLE ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 375 

not alone for their intensity and beauty but for their extended dura- 
tion, the influence of this remarkable volcanic outbreak being vis- 
ible for several years after the event. 

Though no doubt is entertained concerning the cause of the 
red sunset effects of 1783 and 1883, that of 1831 is not so readily 
explained, there having been no known volcanic explosion of 
great intensity in that year. But In view of the fact that vol- 
canoes exist in unvisited parts of the earth, some of which may 
have been at work unkuown to scientific man, this difficulty is not 
insuperable. Possibly Mounts Erebus or Terror, the burning 
mountains of the Antarctic zone, may, unseen by man, have pre- 
pared for civilized lands this grand spectacular effect of Nature's 
doings. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

St. Vincent Island and Mont Soufriere in 1812. 

AMONG all the islands of the Caribbees St. Vincent is unique 
in natural wonders and beauties. Situated about ninety-five 
miles west of Barbados, it has a length of eighteen and a 
width of eleven miles, the whole mass being largely composed of a 
single peak which rises from the ocean's bed. From north to south 
volcanic hills traverse its length, their ridges intersected by fertile 
and beautiful valleys. 

A ridge of mountains crosses the island, dividing it into eastern 
and western parts. Kingstown, the capital, a town of 8,000 inhabi- 
tants, is on the southward side and extends along the shores of 
a beautiful bay, with mountains gradually rising behind it in the 
form of a vast amphitheatre. Three streets, broad and lined with 
good houses, run parallel to the water-front. There are many 
other intersecting highways, some of which lead back to the foot- 
hills, from which good roads ascend the mountains. 

The majority of the houses have red tile roofing and a goodly 
number of them are of stone, one story high, with thick walls after 
the Spanish style — the same types of houses that were in St. Pierre 
and which are not unlike the old Roman houses which in all stages 
of ruin and semJ-preservation are found in Pompeii to this day. 

Behind the general group of the houses of the town loom the 
Governor's residence and the buildings of the botanical gardens 
which overlook the towo, 

(377) 



37^ 



ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 



Kingstown is the trading centre and the town of importance in 
the island. It contains the churches and chapels of five Protestant 
denominations and a number of excellent schools. Away from 
Kingstown, and the smaller settlement of Georgetown, the popula- 
tion is almost wholly rural, occupying scattered villages which con- 
sist of negro huts clustering around a few substantial buildings or 
of cabins grouped about old plantation buildings somewhat after 
the ante-bellum fashion in our own Southern States. 

One of the tragedies of the West Indies was the sinking of 
old Port Royal, the resort of buccaneers, in 1692. The harbor of 
Kingstown is commonly supposed to cover the site of the old settle- 
ment. There is a tradition that a buoy for many years was attached 
to the spire of a sunken church in order to warn mariners. Three 
thousand persons perished in the disaster. 

DESCENDANTS OF ORIGINAL INDIAN POPULATION 

The northern portion of the island, that desolated by the 
recent volcanic eruption, was inhabited by people living in the 
manner just described, the great majority of them being negroes. 
The total population of the island is about 45,000, of whom 30,000 
are Africans and about 3,000 Europeans, the remainder being 
nearly all Asiatics. There are, or rather were, a number of Caribs, 
the descendants of the original warlike Indian population of these 
islands. Many of these live in St. Vincent, though there are others 
in Dominico. As their residence was in the northern section of 
the island, the volcano seems to have completed the work for the 
Caribs of this island which the Spaniard long ago began. These 
Caribs were really half-breds, having amalgamated with the negroes. 
Many of the blacks own land of their own, raising arrow root, which, 
since the decay of the sugar industry, is the chief export. 



ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUTklERE 379 

In an Island only eighteen miles long by eleven broad there is 
not room for any distinctly marked mountain range. The whole of 
St. Vincent, in fact, is a fantastic tumble of hills, culminating in the 
volcanic ridge which runs lengthwise of the oval-shaped island. 
The culminating peak of the great volcanic mass, for St. VinceiuV 
is nothing more, is Mont Garou, of which La Soufriere is a 
sort of lofty excrescence in the northwest, 4,048 feet high, and 
flanking the main peak at some distance away. 

It may be said that all the volcanic mountains in this part of 
the West Indies have what the people call a "soufriere" — a 
"sulphur pit," or " sulphur crater " — the name coming, as in the 
case of past disturbances of Mont Pelee, from the strong stench of 
sulphuretted hydrogen which issues from them when the volcano 
becomes agitated. 

In 18 12 it was La Soufriere adjacent to Mont Garou 
which broke loose on the island of St. Vincent, and it was the same 

Soufriere which ag-ain devastated the island in 1902 and bombarded 
Kingstown with rocks, lava and ashes. 

The old crater of Mont Garou has long been extinct, and, 

like the old crater of Mont Pelee, near St. Pierre, it had far down 

in its depths, surrounded by sheer cliffs from 500 to 800 feet high, 

a lake. Glimpses of the lake of Mont Garou are difficult to get, 

owing to the thick verdure growing about the dangerous edges of 

the precipices, but those who have seen it describe it as a beautiful 

sheet of deep blue water. 

THE APPEARAMCF OF THE SOUFRIERE 

Previous to the eruption of 181 2 the appearance of the 
Soufriere was most interesting. The crater was half a mile in 
diameter and five hundred feet in depth. In its centre was a 



38o ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 

conical hill, fringed with shrubs and vines ; at whose base were two 
small lakes, one sulphurous, the other pure and tasteless. This 
lovely and beautiful spot was rendered more interesting by the 
singularly melodious notes of a bird, an inhabitant of these upper 
solitudes, and altogether unknown to the other parts of the island 
— hence called, or supposed to be, "invisible," as it had never been 
seen. (It is of interest to state that Frederick A. Ober, in a visit 
to the island some twenty years ago, succeeded in obtaining speci- 
mens of this previously unknown bird.) From the fissures of the 
cone a thin white smoke exuded, occasionally tinged with a light 
blue flame. Evergreens, flowers and aromatic shrubs clothed the 
steep sides of the crater, which made, as the first indication of the 
eruption on April 27, 18 12, a tremulous noise in the air. A severe 
concussion of the earth followed, and then a column of thick black 
smoke burst from the crater. 

THE ERUPTION OF l8l2 

The eruption which followed these premonitory symptoms was 
one of the most terrific which had occurred in the West Indies up 
to that time. It was the culminating event which seemed to relieve 
a pressure within the earth's crust which extended from the Missis- 
sippi Valley to Caracas, Venezuela, producing terrible effects in 
the latter place. Here, thirty-five days before the volcanic explo- 
sion, the ground was rent and shaken by a frightful earthquake 
which hurled the city in ruins to the ground and killed ten thousand 
of its inhabitants in a moment of time. 

La Soufriere made the first historic display of its hidden powers 
in 1 718, when lava poured from its crater. A far more violent 
demonstration of its destructive forces was that above mentioned. On 
his occasion the eruption lasted for three days^ ruining a number of 



ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 381 

the estates in the vicinity and destroying many Hves. Myriads of 
tons of ashes, cinders, pumice and scoriae, hurled from the crater, 
fell in every section of the island. Volumes of sand darkened 
the air, and woods, ridges and cane fields were covered with light 
gray ashes, which speedily destroyed all vegetation. The sun for 
three days seemed to be in a total eclipse, the sea was discolored 
and the ground bore a wintry appearance from the white crust of 
fallen ashes. 

Carib natives who lived at Morne Rond fled from their houses 
to Kingstown. As the third day drew to a close flames sprang pyra- 
midically from the crater, accompanied by loud thunder and electric 
flashes, which rent the column of smoke hanging over the volcano. 
Eruptive matter pouring from the northwest side plunged over 
the cliff, carrying down rocks and woods in its course. The island 
was shaken by an earthquake and bombarded with showers of cinders 
and stones, which set houses on fire and killed many of the natives. 

THE TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKE AT CARACAS 

For nearly two years before this explosion earthquakes had 
been common, and sea and land had been agitated from the valley 
of the Mississippi to the coasts of Venezuela and the mountains of 
New Grenada, and from the Azores to the West Indies. On 
March 26, 181 2, these culminated in the terrible tragedy, spoken of 
above, of which Humboldt gives us a vivid account. 

On that day the people of the Venezuelan city of Caracas 
were assembled in the churches, beneath a still and blazing sky, 
when the earth suddenly heaved and shook, like a great monster 
waking from slumber, and in a single minute 10,000 people were 
buried beneath the walls of churches and houses, which tumbled in 
Mdeous ruin upon their heads. The same earthquake made itself 



382 ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 

felt along the whole line of the Northern Cordilleras, working terri- 
ble destruction, and shook the earth as far as Santa Fe de Bogota 
and Honda, i8o leagues from Caracas. This was a preliminary 
symptom of the internal disorder of the earth. 

While the wretched inhabitants of Caracas who had e'^caped 
the earthquake were dying of fever and starvation, and seeking 
among villages and farms places of safety from the renewed earth- 
quake shocks, the almost forgotten volcano of St. Vincent was 
muttering in suppressed wrath. For twelve months it had given 
warning, by frequent shocks of the earth, that it was making ready 
to play its part in the great subterranean battle. On the 27th of 
April its deep-hidden powers broke their bonds, and the conflict 
between rock and fire began. 

THE MOUNTAIN STONES A HERD-BOY 

The first intimation of the outbreak was rather amusing than 
alarming. A negro boy was herding cattle on the mountain side. 
A stone fell near him. Another followed. He fancied that some 
other boys were pelting him from the cliff above, and began throw- 
ing stones upward at his fancied concealed tormentors. But the 
stones fell thicker, among them some too large to be thrown by 
any human hand. Only then did the little fellow awake to the fact 
that it was not a boy like himself, but the mighty mountain, that 
was flinging these stones at him. He looked up and saw that the 
black column which was rising from the crater s mouth was no 
longer harmless vapor, but dust, ashes and stoneSo Leaving the 
cattle to their fate, he fled for his life, while the mighty cannon of 
the Titans roared behind him as he ran. For three days and nights 
this continued ; then, on the 30th, a stream of lava poured over the 
crater's rim and rushed downward, reaching the sea in foor houm 
and the great eruption was at an e^4. 



ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 383 

On the same day, says Humboldt, at a distance of more than 
200 leagues, "the inhabitants not only of Caracas, but of Calabozo, 
situated in the midst of the Lianos, over a space of 4,000 square 
leagues, were terrified by a subterranean noise which resembled 
frequent discharges of the heaviest cannon. It was accompanied 
by no shock, and, what is very remarkable, was as loud on the coast 
as at eighty leagues' distance inland, and at Caracas, as well as at 
Calabozo, preparations were made to put the place in defence 
against an enemy who seemed to be advancing with heavy 
artillery." 

It was no enemy that man could deal with. Fortunately, it 
confined its assault to deep noises, and desisted from earthquake 
shocks. Similar noises were heard in Martinique and Guadeloupe, 
and here also without shocks. The internal thunder was the sisfnal 
of what was taking place on St. Vincent. With this last warning 
sound the trouble, which had lasted so long, was at an end. The 
earthquakes which for two years had shaken a sheet of the earth's 
surface larger than half Europe, were stilled by the eruption of St 
Vincent's volcanic peak. 

BARBADOS COVERED WITH ASHES 

Northeast of the original crater of the Soufriere a new one was 
formed which was a half mile in diameter and five hundred feet 
deep. The old crater was in time transformed into a beautiful 
blue lake, as above stated, walled in by ragged cliffs to a height of 
eight hundred feet. 

It was looked upon as a remarkable circumstance that although 
the air was perfectly calm during the eruption, Barbados, which is 
ninety-five miles to the windward, was covered inches deep with 
ashes= The inhabitants therp aed 00 other neighboring islands were 



384 ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 

terrified by the darkness, which continued for four hours and a 
half. Troops were called under arms, the supposition from the con- 
tinued noise being that hostile fleets were in an engagement. 

The movement of the ashes to windward, as just stated, was 
viewed as a remarkable phenomenon, and is cited by Elise Reclus, 
in " The Ocean," to show the force of different aerial currents ; 
"On the first day of May^ 181 2 wl^ien the northeast trade-wind was in 
all its force, enormous quantities of ashes obscured the atmosphere 
abo'^e the Island of Barbados, and covered the ground with a thick 
layer. Orie woi^ld have supposed that they came from the volca- 
noes 01 toe ii'i'ores, which were to the northeast ; nevertheless they 
were cast up by the crater in St. Vincent, one hundred miles to the 
west. It is therefore certain that the debris had been hurled, by 
the force of the eruption, above the moving sheet of the trade- 
winds into an aerial river proceeding in a contrary direction." For 
this it must have been hurled miles high into the air, till caught by 
the current of the anti-trade winds. 

KINGSLEY*S VISIT TO SAINT VINCENT 

From Charles Kingsley's *'At Last " we extract, from the ac 
count of the visit of the author to St. Vincent, some interesting 
matter concerning the 181 2 eruption and its effect on the moun- 
tain ; also its influence upon distant Barbados, as just stated. 

" The strangest fact about this eruption was, that the mountain 
did not make use of its old crater. The original vent must have 
become so jammed and consolidated, in the few years between 1785 
and 1 81 2, that it could not be reopened, even by a steam force the 
vastness of which may be guessed at from the vastness of the area 
which it had shaken for two years. So, when the eruption was 
over, it was found that the old crater-lake^ incredible as it may 



ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 385 

seem, remained undisturbed, so far as has been ascertained ; but close 
to it, and separated only by a knife-edge of rock some 700 feet in 
height, and so narrow that, as I was assured by one who had seen 
it, it is dangerous to crawl along it, a second crater, nearly as large 
as the first, had been blasted out, the bottom of which, in like 
manner, was afterward filled with water. 

'* I regretted much that I could not visit It. Three points I 
longed to ascertain carefully — the relative heights of the wat>r in 
the two craters ; the height and nature of the spot where the lava 
stream issued ; and, lastly, if possible, the actual causes of the 
locally famous Rabacca, or ' Dry River,' one of the largest streams 
in the island, which was swallowed up during the eruption, at a 
short distance from its source, leaving its bed an arid gully to this 
day. But it could not be, and I ow^e what little I know of the sum- 
mit of the soufriere principally to a most intelligent and gentleman- 
like young Wesleyan minister, whose name has escaped me. He 
described vividly, as we stood together on the deck, looking up at 
the volcano, the awful beauty of the twin lakes, and of the clouds 
which, for months together, whirl in and out of the cups in fantas- 
tic shapes before the eddies of the trade wind= 

BLACK SUNDAY AT BARBADOS 

" The day after the explosion, * Black Sunday,' gave a proof of, 
though no measure of, the enormous force which had been ex- 
erted. Eighty miles to windward lies Barbados. All Saturday a 
heavy cannonading had been heard to the eastward. The English 
and French fleets were surely engaged. The soldiers were called 
out ; the batteries manned ; but the cannonade died away, and all 
went to bed in wonder. On the ist of May the clocks struck six, 
but the sun did not, as usual in the tropics, answer to the call 
25 



386 ST. VINCENT AND MONT SOUFRIERE 

The darkness was still intense, and grew more intense as the morn- 
ing wore on. A slow and silent rain of impalpable dust was falling 
over the whole island. The negroes rushed shrieking into the 
streets. Surely the last day was come. The white folk caught 
(and little blame to them) the panic, and some began to pray who 
had not prayed for years. The pious and the educated (and there 
were plenty of both in Barbados) were not proof against the infec- 
tion. Old letters describe the scene in the churches that morning 
as hideous — prayers, sobs, and cries, in Stygian darkness, from 
trembling crowds. And still the darkness continued and the dust 
fell 

INCIDENTS AT BARBADOS 

" I have a letter written by one long since dead, who had at 
least powers of description of no common order, telling how, when 
he tried to go out of his house upon the east coast, he could not 
find the trees on his own lawn save by feeling for their stems. He 
stood amazed not only in utter darkness, but in utter silence ; for 
the trade-wind had fallen dead, the everlasting roar of the surf was 
gone, and the only noise was the crashing of branches, snapped by 
the weight of the clammy dust. He went in again, and waited. 
About one o'clock the veil began to lift ; a lurid sunlight stared in 
from the horizon, but all was black overhead. Gradually the dust 
drifted away; the island saw the sun once more, and saw itself 
inches deep in black, and in this case fertilizing, dust. The trade- 
wind blew suddenly once more out of the clear east, and the surf 
roared again along the shore. 

" Meanwhile a heavy earthquake-wave had struck part at least 
of the shores of Barbados. The gentleman on the east coast, go- 
ing out. found traces of the sea, and boats and logs washed up some 



ST. VINCENl AND MONT SOUFRIERB 2>^'j 

ten to twenty feet above high-tide mark ; a convulsion which 
seemed to have gone unmarked during the general dismay. 

" One man at least, an old friend of John Hunter, Sir Joseph 
Banks and others their compeers, was above the dismay, and the 
superstitious panic which accompanied it. Finding it still dark 
when he rose to dress, he opened (so the story used to run)'his 
window ; found it stick, and felt upon the sill a coat of soft powder. 
'The volcano in St. Vincent has broken out at last,' said the wise 
man, 'and this is the dust of it.' So he quieted his household and 
his negroes, lighted his candles, and went to his scientific books, in 
that delight, mingled with an awe not the less deep, because it is 
rational and self-possessed, with which he, like the other men of 
science, looked at the wonders of this wondrous world." 

On May 7, 1902, simultaneously with the terrible explosion of 
Mount Pelee, Martinique, St. Vincent was visited with an eruption 
more violent than that of 18 12, Soufriere bursting out in flames 
and smoke and spreading ruin and death over a great part of the 
island. It was estimated that 1600 people were killed, including 
nearly the whole of the Carib Indians, the remnant of a famous 
West Indian tribe. The outbreak was repeated at intervals for 
several weeks, leaving the country buried deep in volcanic ashes 
and converdng a fertile island into a desolate and forbidding waste. 




CHAPTER XXXI. 

Mount Pelee and its Harvest of Death, 

T. PIERRE, the principal city of the French island of Mar- 
tinique, in the West Indies, lies for the length of about a 
mile along- the island coast with hiorh cliffs hemminsf it 
in, its houses climbing the slope, tier upon tier. At one place 
where a river breaks through the cliffs, the city creeps further up to- 
wards the mountains. As seen from the bay, its appearance is pic- 
turesque and charming, with the soft tints of its tiles, the grey of 
its walls, the clumps of verdure in its midst, and the wall of green 
in the rear. Seen from its streets this beauty disappears, and the 
chief attraction of the town is gone. 

Back from the three miles of hills which sweep in an arc 
round the town, is the noble Montague Pelee lying several miles to 
the north of the city, a mass of dark rock some four thousand feet 
high, with jagged outline, and cleft with gorges and ravines, down 
which flow numerous streams, gushing from the crater lake of the 
great volcano. 

Though known to be a volcano, it was looked upon as practi- 
cally extinct, though as late as August, 1856, it had been in eruption. 
No lava at that time came from its crater, but it hurled out great 
quantities of ashes and mud, with strong sulphurous odor. Then it 
went to rest again, and slept till 1902. 

The people had long ceased to fear it. No one expected that 
grand old Mount Pelee, the slumbering (so it was thought) 
3SS 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OE DEATH 389 

tranquil old hill, would ev^^.r spurt forth fire and death. This was 
entirely unlooked for Mont Pclee was regarded by the natives as 
a sort of protector ; they had an almost superstitious affection for it. 
From the outskirts of the city it rose gradually, its sides grown 
thick with rich grass, and dotted here and there with spreading 
shrubbery and drooping trees. There was no pleasanter outing for 
an afternoon than a journey up the green, velvet-like sides of the 
towering mountain and a view of the quaint, picturesque city slum- 
bering at its base. 

A PEACEFUL SCENE 

There were no rocky cliffs, no crags, no protruding boulders. 
The mountain was peace itself, It seemed to promise perpetual 
protection. The poetic natives relied upon it to keep back storms 
from the land and frighten, with its stern brow, the tempests from 
the sea. They pointed to it with profoundest pride as one of the 
most beautiful mountains in the world,. 

Children played in its bowers and arbors ; families picnicked 
there day after day during the balmy weather ; hundreds of tour- 
ists ascended to the summit and looked with pleasure at the beauti- 
ful crystal lake which sparkled and glinted in the sunshine. Mont 
Pelee was the place of enjoyment of the people of St. Pierre. I 
can hear the placid natives say ; ** Old Father Pelee is our protec- 
tor — not our destroyer," 

Not until two weeks before the eruption did the slumbering 
mountain show signs of waking to death and disaster. On the 23d 
of April it first displayed symptoms of internal disquiet, A 
great column of smoke began to rise from it, and was accompanied 
from time to time by showers of ashes and cinders. 

Despite these signals, there was nothing until Monday, May 
5th, to indicate actual danger. On that day a stream of smoking 



390 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

mud and lava burst through the top of the crater and plunged into 
the valley of the River Blanche, overwhelming the Guerin sugar 
works and killing twenty-three workmen and the son of the proprie- 
tor. Mr, Guerin's was one of the largest sugar works on the island ; 
its destruction entailed a heavy loss. The mud which overwhelmed it 
follov/ed the beds of streams towards the north of the island. 

The alarm in the city was great, but it was somewhat allayed 
by the report of an expert commission appointed by the Governor, 
which decided that the eruption was normal and that the city was 
in no peril.^ To further allay the excitement, the Governor, with 
several scientists, took up his residence in St. Pierre. He could 
not restrain the people by force, but the moral effect of his pre- 
sence and the decision of the scientists had a similar disastrous 
result. 

A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION BY A SUFFERER. 

The existing state of affairs during these few waiting days is 
so graphically given in a letter from Mrs. Thomas T. Prentis, wife 
of the United States Consul at St. Pierre, to her sister in Melrose, 
a suburban city of Boston, that we quote it here : 

''My Dear Sister: This morning the whole population of the 
city is on the alert and every eye is directed toward Mont Pelee, 
an extinct volcano. Everybody is afraid that the volcano has taken 
into its heart to burst forth and destroy the whole island. 

" Fifty years ago Mont Pelee burst forth with terrific force and 
destroyed everything within a radius of several miles. For several 
days the mountain has been bursting forth in flame and immense 
quantities of lava are flowing down its sides. 

"All the inhabitants are going up to see it. There is not a 
horse to be had on the island, those belonging to the natives being 
kept in readiness to leave at a moment's notice. 



MOUNT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 



391 



*' Last Wednesday, which was April 23d, I was in my room 
with Httle Christine, and we heard three distinct shocks. They 
were so great that we supposed at first that there was some one at 
the door, and Christine went and found no one there. The first 
report was very loud, and the second and third were so great that 
dishes were thrown from the shelves and the house was rocked. 




INTERIOR OF A HOME IN ST. PIERRE. 

" We can see Mont Pelee from the rear windows of our house, 
and although it is fully four miles away, we can hear the roar of 
the fire and lava issuing from it. 

" The city is covered with ashes and clouds of smoke have 
been over our heads for the last five days. The smell of sulphur is 
so strong that horses on the streets stop and snort, and some of 
them are obliged to give up, drop in their harness and die from 
suffocation. Many of the people are obliged to wear wet handker- 
chiefs over their faces to protect them from the fumes of sulphur. 



392 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATh 

" My husband assures me that there is no immediate danger, 
and when there is the least particle of danger we will leave the 
place. There is an American schooner, the R. J. Morse, in the 
harbor, and she will remain here for at least two Vv'eeks. If the 
volcano becomes very bad we shall embark at once and go out to 
sea. The papers in this city are asking if we are going to experi- 
ence another earthquake similar to that which struck here some fifty 
years ago." 

THE FATEFUL EIGHTH OF MAY 

The writer of this letter and her husband, Consul Prentis, 
trusted Mont Pelee too long. They perished, with all the inhabi- 
tants of the city, in a deadly flood of fire and ashes that descended 
on the devoted place on the fateful morning of Thursday, May 
8th. Only for the few who were rescued from the ships in the 
harbor there would be scarcely a living soul to tell that dread story 
of ruin and death. The most graphic accounts are those given by 
rescued oflficers of the Roraima, one of the fleet of the Quebec 
Steamship Co., trading with the West Indies. This vessel had left 
the Island of Dominica for Martinique at midnight of Wednesday, 
and reached St. Pierre about 7 o'clock Thursday morning. The 
greatest difficulty was experienced in getting into port, the air 
being thick with falling ashes and the darkness intense. The ship 
|had to grope its way to the anchorage. Appalling sounds were 
issuing from the mountain behind the town, which was shrouded 
in darkness. The ashes were falling thickly on the steamer's deck, 
where the passengers and others were gazing at the town, some 
being engaged in photographing the scene. 

The best way in which we can describe a scene of which few 
lived to tell the story, is to give the narratives of a number of the 
survivors. From their several stories a coherent idea of the terrible 




Copyrighted by Judge Publishing Co., igo2. 

THE CLOCK THAT TOLD THE STORY OF MARTINIQUE. 

This picture shows the ruins of the Hospital of St. Pierre and the clock with 

the hands pointing to 7.50, which indicated the time at which 

the city was overwhelmed- 



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MONT PELRR AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATh 393 

scene can be formed. From the various accounts given of the ter- 
rible explosion by officers of the Roraima, we select as a first 
example the following description by Assistant Purser Thompson : 

A TALE OF SUDDEN RUIN 

" I saw St. Pierre destroyed. It was blotted out by one great 
flash of fire. Nearly 40,000 persons were all killed at once. Out 
of eighteen vessels lying in the roads only one, the British steam- 
ship Roddam, escaped, and she, I hear, lost more than half on 
board. It was a dying crew that took her out. 

" Our boat, the RoraiiJia^ of the Quebec Line, arrived at St. 
Pierre early Thursday morning. For hours before we entered the 
roadstead we could see flames and smoke risingf from Mont Pelee. 
No one on board had any idea of danger. Captain G. T. Muggah 
was on the bridge, and all hands got on deck to see the show. 

"The spectacle was magnificent. As we approached St. 
Pierre we could distinguish the rolling and leaping of the red 
flames that belched from the mountain in huge volumes and gushed 
high into the sky. Enormous clouds of black smoke hung over the 
volcano. 

" When we anchored at St. Pierre I noticed the cable steam- 
ship Grappler, the Roddam, three or four American schooners and 
a number of Italian and Norwegian barks. The flames were then 
spurting straight up in the air, now and then waving to one side or 
the other for a moment and again leaping suddenly higher up. 

"There was a constant mufifled roar. It was like the biggest 
oil refinery in the world burning up on the mountain top. There 
was a tremendous explosion about 7.45 o'clock, soon after we got 
in. The mountain was blown to pieces. There was no warn- 
ing. The side of the volcano was ripped out, and there was hurled 



394 MONT PELEE AND ITS HAR VEST OF DEATH 

straight toward us a solid wall of flame. It sounded like thousands 
of cannon. 

" The wave of fire was on us and over us like a lightning 
flash. It was like a hurricane of fire. I saw it strike the cable 
steamship Grappler broadside on and capsize her. From end to 
end she burst into flames and then sank. The fire rolled in mass 
straight down upon St. Pierre and the shipping. The town van- 
ished before our eyes and the air grew stifling hot, and we were in 
the thick of it. 

" Wherever the mass of fire struck the sea the water boiled 
and sent up vast clouds of steam. The sea was torn into huge 
whirlpools that careened toward the open sea. 

" One of these horrible hot whirlpools swung under the Ror- 
aima and pulled her down on her beam ends with the suction. She 
careened way over to port, and then the fire hurricane from the 
volcano smashed her, and over she went on the opposite side. The 
fire wave swept off the masts and smokestack as if they were cut 
with a knife. 

HEAT CAUSED EXPLOSIONS 

" Captain Muggah was the only one on deck not killed out- 
right. He was caught by the fire wave and terribly burned. He 
yelled to get up the anchor, but, before two fathoms were heaved in 
the Roraiina was almost upset by the boiling whirlpool, and the fire 
wave had thrown her down on her beam ends to starboard. Cap- ' 
tain Muggah was overcome by the flames. He fell unconscious 
from the bridge and toppled overboard. 

" The blast of fire from the volcano lasted only a few minutes. 
It shriveled and set fire to everything it touched. Thousands of 
casks of rum were stored in St. Pierre, and these were exploded by 
the terrific heat. The burning rum ran in streams down every street 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH ^ 395 

and out to the sea. This blazing rum set fire to the Roraima several 
times. Before the volcano burst the landings of St. Pierre were 
crowded with people. After the explosion not one living being was 
seen on land. Only twenty-five of those on the Roraima out of 
sixty-eight were left after the first flash. 

"The French cruiser Suchet came in and took us off at 2 
p. M. She remained nearby, helping all she could, until 5 o'clock, 
then went to Fort de France with all the people she had rescued. 
At that time it looked as if the entire north end of the island was 
on fire." 

C. C. Evans, of Montreal, and John G. Morris, of New York, 
who were among those rescued, say the vessel arrived at 6 o'clock. 
As eight bells were struck a frightful explosion was heard up the 
mountain. A cloud of fire, toppling and roaring, swept with light- 
ning speed down the mountain side and over the town and bay. 
The Roraima was nearly sunk, and caught fire at once. 

" I can never forget the horrid, fiery, choking whirlwind which 
enveloped me," said Mr. Evans. " Mr. Morris and I rushed below. 
We are not very badly burned, not so bad as most of them. 
When the fire came we were going to our posts (we are engineers) 
to weigh anchor and get out. When we came up we found the 
ship afire aft, and fought it forward until 3 o'clock, when the 
Suchet came to our rescue. We were then building a raft." 

" Ben " Benson, the carpenter of the Roraima, said : "I was 
on deck, amidships, when I heard an explosion. The captain or^ 
dered me to up anchor. I got to the windlass, but when the fire 
came I went into the forecastle and got my 'duds.' When I came 
out I talked with Captain Muggah, Mr. Scott, the first officer and 
others. They had been on the bridge. The captain was horribly 
burned. He had inhaled flames and wanted to jump into the sea. 



396 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

I tried to make him take a life-preserver. The captain, who was 
undressed, jumped overboard and hung on to a Hne for a while. 
Then he disappeared." 

THE cooper's story. 

James Taylor, a cooper employed on the Roraima, gives the 
following account of his experience of the disaster : 

"Hearing a tremendous report and seeing the ashes falling 
thicker, I dived into a room, dragging with me Samuel Thomas, a 
gangway man and fellow countryman, shutting the door tightly. 
Shortly after I heard a voice, which I recognized as that of the 
chief mate, Mr. Scott. Opening the door with great caution, 
I drew him in. The nose of Thomas was burned by the intense heat. 

" We three and Thompson, the assistant purser, out of sixty- 
eight souls on board, were the only persons who escaped practically 
uninjured. The heat being unbearable, I emerged in a few 
moments, and the scene that presented itself to my eyes baffles de- 
scription. All around on the deck were the dead and dying cov- 
ered with boiling mud. There they lay, men, women and little 
children, and the appeals of the latter for water were heart-rending. 
When water was given them they could not swallow it, owing 
to their throats being filled with ashes or burnt wit.x the heated air. 

" The ship was burning aft, and I jumped overboard, the 
sea being intensely hot. I was at once svv-^pt seaward by a tidal 
wave; but, the sea receding a considerable distance, the return 
wave washed me against an upturned sloop to which I clung. I 
v/as joined by a man so dreadfully burned and disfigured as to 
be unrecognizable. Afterwards I found he was the captain of the 
Roraima, Captain Muggah. He was in dreadful agony, begging 
piteously to be put on board his ship. 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 397 

" Picking up some wreckage which contained bedding and 
a tool chest, I, with the help of five others who had joined me 
on the wreck, constructed a rude raft, on which we placed the cap- 
tain. Then, seeing an upturned boat, I asked one of the five, a 
native of Martinique, to swim and fetch it. Instead of returning to 
us, he picked up two of his countrymen and went away in the di- 
rection of Fort de France. Seeing the Roddam, which arrived in 
port shortly after we anchored, making for the Roraima^ I said 
good-bye to the captain and swam back to the Roraima. 

"The Roddam, however, burst into flames and put to sea. I 
reached the Roraima at about half-past 2, and was afterwards taken 
off by a boat from the French warship Suchet. Twenty-four others 
with myself were taken on to Fort de France. Three of these 
died before reaching port. A number of others have since died." 

Samuel Thomas, the gangway man, whose life was saved by 
the forethought of Taylor, says that the scene on the burning ship 
was awful. The groans and cries of the dying, for whom nothing 
could be done, were horrible. He describes a woman as being 
burned to death with a living babe in her arms. He says that it 
seemed as if the whole world was afire. 

CONSUL AYME's statement 

The inAammable material in the forepart of the ship that 
would have ignited that part of the vessel was thrown overboard 
by him and the other two uninjured men. The Grappler, the 
telegraph company's ship, was seen opposite the Usine Guerin^ 
and disappeared as if blown up by a submarine explosion. The 
captain's body was subsequently found by a boat from the Suchet. 

Consul Ayme, of Guadeloupe, who, as already stated, had 
hastened to Fort de France on hearing of the terrible event, tells 
the story of the disaster in the following words : 



398 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

" Thursday morning the inhabitants of the city awoke to find 
heavy clouds shrouding Mont Pelee crater. All day Wednesday 
horrid detonations had been heard. These were echoed from St. 
Thomas on the north to Barbados on the south. The cannonad- 
ing ceased on Wednesday night, and fine ashes fell like rain on 
St. Pierre. The inhabitants were alarmed, but Governor Mouttet, 
who had arrived at St. Pierre the evening before, did everything 
possible to allay the panic. 

" The British steamer Roraima reached St. Pierre on Thursday 
with ten passengers, among whom were Mrs. Stokes and her three 
children, and Mrs. H. J. I nee. They were watching the rain of 
ashes, when, with a frightful roar and terrific electric discharges, 
a cyclone of fire, mud and steam swept down from the crater over 
the town and bay, sweeping all before it and destroying the fleet 
of vessels at anchor off the shore. There the accounts of the 
catastrophe so far obtainable cease. Thirty thousand corpses are 
strewn about, buried in the ruins of St. Pierre, or else floating, 
gnawed by sharks, in the surrounding seas. Twenty-eight charred, 
half-dead human beings were brought here. Sixteen of them are 
already dead, and only four of the whole number are expected to 

recover." 

A woman's experience on the "roraima" 

Margaret Stokes, the 9 year old daughter of the late Clement 
Stokes, of New York, who, with her mother, a brother aged 4 and 
a sister aged 3 years, was on the ill-fated steamer Roraima^ was 
saved from that vessel, but is not expected to liveo Her nurse, 
Clara King, tells the following story of her experience : 

She says she was in her stateroomj when the steward of the 
Roraima called out to her : 

** Look at Mont Pelee." 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 399 

She went on deck and saw a vast mass of black cloud conung 
down from the volcano. The steward ordered her to return to the 
saloon, saying, "It is coming," 

Miss King- then rushed to the saloon. She says she experi- 
enced a feeling of suffocation, which was followed by intense heat. 
The afterpart of the Roraima broke out in dames. Ben Benson, 
the carpenter of the Roraima, severely burned, assisted Miss King 
and Margaret Stokes to escape. With the help of Mr. Scott, the 
first mate of the Roraima, he constructed a raft, with life preservers. 
Upon this Miss King and Margaret were placed. 

While this was being done Margaret's little brother died. 
Mate Scott brought the child water at great personal danger, but 
it was unavailing. Shortly after the death of the little boy Mrs. 
Stokes succumbed. Margaret and Miss King eventually got away 
on the raft, and were picked up by the steamer Korona. Mate 
Scott also escaped. Miss King did not sustain serious injuries. 
She covered the face of Margaret with her dress, but still the child 
was probably fatally burned. 

The only woman known at that time to have survived the dis- 
aster at St. Pierre was a negress named Fillotte. She was found 
in a cellar Saturday afternoon, where she had been for three days. 
She was still alive, but fearfully burned from head to toes. She died 
afterward in the hospital 

CAPTAIN freeman's THRILLING ACCOUNT 

Of the vessels in the harbor of St. Pierre on the fateful morn- 
ing, only one, the British steamer Roddam, escaped, and that with 
a crew of whom few reached the open sea alive. Those who did 
escape were terribly injured. Captain Freeman, of this vessel, tells 
what he experienced m the following thrilling language : 



400 MOUNT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

"St. Lucia, British West Indies, May 1 1. — The ste2im&Y Roddam, 
of which I am captain, left St. Lucia at midnight of May 7, and 
was off St. Pierre, Martinique, at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 
8th. I noticed that the volcano, Mont Pelee, was smoking, and 
crept slowly in toward the bay, finding there among others the 
steamer Roraima, the telegraph repairing steamer Grappler and 
four sailing vessels. I went to anchorage between 7 and 8 and had 
hardly moored when the side of the volcano opened out with a 
terrible explosion. A wall of fire swept over the town and the bay. 
The Roddam was struck broadside by the burning mass. The 
shock to the ship was terrible, nearly capsizing her. 

AWFUL RESULTS 

' Hearing the awful report of the explosion and seeing the 
great wall of flames approaching the steamer, those on deck sought 
shelter wherever it was possible, jumping into the cabin, the fore- 
castle and even into the hold. I was in the chart room, but the 
burning embers were borne by so swift a movement of the air that 
they were swept in through the door and port holes, suffocating and 
scorching me badly. I was terribly burned by these embers about 
the face and hands, but managed to reach the deck. Then, as soon 
as it was possible, I mustered the few survivors who seemed 
able to move, ordered them to slip the anchor, leaped for the bridge 
and ran the engine for full speed astern. The second and the third 
engineer and a fireman were on watch below and so escaped injury. 
They did their part in the attempt to escape, but the men on deck 
could not work the steering gear because it was jammed by the 
debris from the volcano. We accordingly went ahead and astern 
until the gear was free, but in this running backward and forward 
\% was two hours after the first shock before we were clear o! the bay. 




40I 



402 MOUNT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

*'One of the most terrifying conditions was that, the atmosphere 
being charged with ashes, it was totally dark. The sun was com- 
pletely obscured, and the air was only illuminated by the flames from 
the volcano and those of the burning town and shipping. It seems 
small to say that the scene was terrifying in the extreme. As we 
backed out we passed close to the Roraima^ which was one mass of 
blaze. The steam was rushing from the engine room, and the 
screams of those on board were terrible to hear. The cries for help 
were all in vain, for I could do nothing but save my own ship. 
When I last saw the Roraima she was settling down by the stern. 
That was about to o'clock in the morning. 

" When the Roddam was safely out of the harbor of St. Pierre, 
with its desolations and horrors, I made for St. Lucia. Arriving 
there, and when the ship was safe, I mustered the survivors as well 
as I was able and searched for the dead and injured. Some I found 
in the saloon where they had vainly sought for safety, but the cabins 
were full of burning embers that had blown in through the port 
holes. Through these the fire swept as through funnels and burned 
the victims where they lay or stood, leaving a circular imprint of 
scorched and burned flesh. I brought ten on deck who were thus 
burned ; two of them were dead, the others survived, although in a 
dreadful state of torture from their burns. Their screams of agony 
were heartrending. Out of a total of twenty-three on board the 
Roddam, which includes the captain and the crew, ten are dead and 
several are in the hospital. My first and second mates, my chief 
engineer and my supercargo, Campbell by name, were killed. The 
ship was covered from stem to stern with tons of powdered . lava, 
which retained its heat for hours after it had fallen. In many cases 
it was practically incandescent, and to move about the deck in this 
burning mass was not only difficult but absolutely perilous. I am 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 403 

only now able to begin thoroughly to clear and search the ship for 
any damage done by this volcanic rain, and to see if there are any 
corpses in out-of-the-way places. For instance, this morning, I found 
one body in the peak of the forecastle. The body was horribly burned 
and the sailor had evidently crept in there in his agony to die. 

" On the arrival of the Roddani at St. Lucia the ship presented 
an appalling appearance. Dead and calcined bodies lay about the 
deck, which was also crowded with injured, helpless and suffering 
people. Prompt assistance was rendered to the injured by the 
authorities here and my poor, tortured men were taken to the hos- 
pital. The dead were buried. I have omitted to mention that 
out of twenty-one black laborers that I brought from Grenada to 
help in stevedoring, only six survived. Most of the others threw 
themselves overboard to escape a dreadful fate, but they met a 
worse one, for it is an actual fact that the water around the ship 
was literally at a boiling heat. The escape of my vessel was miracu- 
lous. The woodwork of the cabins and bridge and everything in- 
flammable on deck were constantly igniting, and it was with great 
difficulty that we few survivors managed to keep the flames down. 
My ropes, awnings, tarpaulins were completely burned up. 

" I witnessed the entire destruction of St. Pierre. The flames 
enveloped the town in every quarter with such rapidity that it was 
impossible that any person could be saved. As I have said, the 
day was suddenly turned to night, but I could distinguish by the 
light of the burning town people distractedly running about on the 
beach. The burning buildings stood out from the surrounding 
darkness like black shadows. All this time the mountain was roar- 
ing and shaking, and in the intervals between these terrifying sounds 
I could hear the cries of despair and agony from the thousands who 
were perishing. These cries added to the terror of the scene, but 



404 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

it is impossible to describe its horror or the dreadful sensations it 
produced. It was like witnessing the end of the world. 

" Let me add that, after the first shock was over, the survivors 
of the crew rendered willing help to navigate the ship to this port. 
Mr. Plissoneau, our agent in Martinique, happening to be on board, 
was saved, and I really believe that he is the only survivor of St. 
Pierre. As it is, he is seriously burned on the hands and face. 

"FREEMAN, 
"Master British Steamship Roddam.'* 

THE " ETONA " PASSES ST. PIERRE 

The British steamer Etona, of the Norton Line, stopped at 
St. Lucia to coal on May loth. Captain Cantell there visited the 
Roddani and had an interview with Captain Freeman. On the nth 
the Etona put to sea again, passing St. Pierre in the afternoon. 
We subjoin her captain's story : 

" The weather was clear and we had a fine view, but the old 
outlines of St. Pierre were not recognizable. Everything was a 
mass of blue lava, and the formation of the land itself seemed to 
have changed. When we were about eight miles off the northern 
end of the island Mount Pelee began to belch a second time. 
Clouds of smoke and lava shot into the air and spread over all the 
sea, darkening the sun. Our decks in a few minutes were covered 
with a substance that looked like sand dyed a bluish tint, and which 
smelled like phosphorus. For all that the day was clear, there was 
little to be seen satisfactorily. Over the island there hung a blue 
haze. It seemed to me that the formation, the topography, of the 
island was altered. 

" Everything seemed to be covered with a blue dust, such as 
had fallen aboard us every day since we had been within the affected 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 405 

region. It was blue lava dust. For more than an hour we scanned 
the coast with our glasses, now and then discovering something 
that looked like a ruined hamlet or collection of buildings. There 
was no life visible. Suddenly we realized that we might have to 
fight for our lives as the Roddams people had clone. 

" We were about four miles off the northern end of the island 
when suddenly there shot up in the air to a tremendous height a 
column of smoke. The sky darkened and the smoke seemed to 
swirl down upon us. In fact, it spread all around, darkening the 
atmosphere as far as we could see. I called Chief Engineer Far- 
rish to the deck. 

" ' Do you see that over there ?' I asked, pointing to the 
eruption, for it was the second eruption of Mont Pelee. He saw 
it all right. Captain Freeman's story was fresh in my mind. 

*' ' Well, Farrish, rush your engines as they have never been 
rushed before,' I said to him. He went below, and soon we began 
to burn coal and pile up the feathers in our forefoot. 

" I was on watch with Second Officer Gibbs. At once we 
began to furl awnings and make secure against fire. The crew 
were all showing an anxious spirit, and everybody on board, includ- 
ing the four passengers, were serious and apprehensive. 

" We began to cut through the water at almost twelve knots. 
Ordinarily we make ten knots. We could see no more of the land 
contour, but everything seemed to be enveloped in a great cloud. 
There was no fire visible, but the lava dust rained down upon us 
steadily. In less than an hour there were two inches of it upon 
our deck. 

" The air smelled like phosphorus. No one dared to look 
up to try to locate the sun, because one's eyes w^ould fill with lava 
dust. Some of the blue lava dust is sticking to our mast yet, 



4o6 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

although we have swabbed 'decks and rigging again and again to be 
clear of it. 

" After a little more than an hour's fast running we saw day- 
light ahead and began to breathe easier. If I had not talked 
with Captain Freeman and heard from him just how the black 
swirl of wind and fire rolled down upon him, I would not have 
been so apprehensive, but would have thought that the darkness 
and cloud that came down upon us meant just an unusually heavy 
squall.' 

CHIEF ENGINEER FARRISH's STORY 

*' The Etona's run from Montevideo was a fast one — I think 
a record breaker. We were 22 days and 21 hours from port to port. 
Off Martinique I stared at the coast for about an hour, and 
then went below. The blue lava that covered everything faded 
into the haze that hung over the island so that nothing was dis- 
tinctly visible. Through my glass I discovered a stream of lava, 
though. It stretched down the mountain side, and seemed to be 
flowing into the sea. It was not clearly and distinctly visible, 
however. 

*' About 3 o'clock I went below to take forty winks. I had 
been in my berth only a few minutes when the steward told me the 
captain wanted me on the bridge. 

' * Do you see that, Farrish ?' he asked, pointing at the land. 
An outburst of smoke seemed to be sweeping down upon us. It 
made me think of the Roddant s experience. Smoke and dust 
closed in about us, shutting out the sunlight, and precipitating a fall 
of lava on our decks. 

" ' Go below and drive her,' said the captain, and I didn't lose 
any time, I can tell you. We burned coal as though it didn't cost 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OE DEATH 407 

a cent. The safety: valve was jumping every second, even though 
we were making twelve knots an hour. For two hours we kept up 
the pace, and then, running into clear daylight, let the engines slow 
down and we all cheered up a bit." 

CAPTAIN CANTELL VISITS THE " RODDAM " 

Captain Cantell went on board the Roddam, whose frightful 
condition he thus describes : 

"At St. Lucia, on May nth, I went on board the British 
steamship Roddam, which had escaped from the terrible volcanic 
eruption at Martinique two days before. The state of the ship 
was enough to show that those on board must have undergone an 
awful experience. 

"The Roddam was covered with a mass of fine bluish gray 
dust or ashes of cement-like appearance. In some parts it lay two 
feet deep on the decks. This matter had fallen in a red-hot state 
all over the steamer, setting fire to everything it struck that was 
burnable, and, when it fell on the men on board, burning off limbs 
and large pieces of flesh. This was shown by finding portions of 
human flesh when the decks were cleared of the debris. The rig- 
ging, ropes, tarpaulins, sails, awnings, etc., were charred or burned, 
and most of the upper stanchions and spars were swept over- 
board or destroyed by fire. Skylights were smashed and cabins 
were filled with volcanic dust. The scene of ruin was deplorable. 

"The captain, though suffering the greatest agony, succeeded in 
navigating his vessel safely to the port of Castries, St. Lucia, with 
eighteen dead bodies on the deck and human limbs scattered about. 
A sailor stood by constantly wiping the captain's injured eyes. 

" I think the performance of the Roddam s captain was most 
wonderful, and the more so when I saw his pitiful condition. I do 



4oS MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

not understand how he kept up, yet when the steamer arrived at 
St. Lucia and medical assistance was procured, this brave man 
asked the doctors to attend to the others first and refused to be 
treated until this was done. 

*' My interview with the captain brought out this account. I 
left him in good spirits and receiving every comfort. The sight of 
his face would frighten anyone not prepared to see it." 

THE VIVID ACCOUNT OF M. ALBERT 

To the accounts given by the survivors of the Rorahna and the 
ofificers of the Etona, it will be well to add the following graphic 
story told by M. Albert, a planter of the island, the owner of an 
estate situated only a mile to the northeast of the burning crater of 
Mont Pelee. His escape from death had in it something of the 
marvellous. He says : 

" Mont Pelee had given warning of the destruction that was to 
come, but we, who had looked upon the volcano as harmless, did 
not believe that it would do more than spout fire and steam, as it 
had done on other occasions. It was a little before eight o'clock on 
the morning of May 8 that the end came. I was in one of the fields 
of my estate when the ground trembled under my feet, not as it 
does when the earth quakes, but as though a terrible struggle was 
going on within the mountain. A terror came upon me, but I could 
not explain my fear. 

*' As I stood still Mont Pelee seemed to shudder, and a moaning 
sound issued from its crater. It was quite dark, the sun being ob- 
scured by ashes and fine volcanic dust. The air was dead about 
me, so dead that the floating dust seemingly was not disturbed. 
Then there was a rending, crashing, grinding noise, which I can 
only describe as sounding as thoucrh every bit of machinery in the 




Copyrighted by Judge Publishing Co., 1902. 

A PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURE GIVING GENERAL VIEW OF RUINS 
OF ST. PIERRE LOOKING TOWARD THE MOUNTAIN. 



^ > 

2. H 



o ^ 



O I— I" 

Pi ^ 







Copyrighted by Judge Publishing Co., 1902. 

THE VOLCANIC OUTBREAK OF MT. PELEE, MAY 8, 1902. 
The only photograph taken during the height of the eruption, a scene 
grand as it was appalling. 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 409 

world had suddenly broken down. It was deafening, and the flash 
of light that accompanied it was blinding, more so than any light- 
ning I have ever seen. 

" It was like a terrible hurricane, and where a fraction of a 
second before there had been a perfect calm, I felt myself drawn 
into a vortex and I had to brace myself firmly. It was like a great 
express train rushing by, and I was drawn by its force. The mys- 
terious force levelled a row of strong trees, tearing them up by the 
roots and leaving bare a space of ground fifteen yards wide and 
more than one hundred yards long. Transfixed I stood, not know- 
ing in what direction to flee. I looked toward Mont Pelee, and 
above its apex there appeared a great black cloud which reached high 
in the air. It literally fell upon the city of St. Pierre. It moved with 
a rapidity that made it impossible for anything to escape it. From 
the cloud came explosions that sounded as though all of the navies 
of the world were in titanic combat. Lightning played in and out 
in broad forks, the result being that intense darkness was followed 
by light that seemed to be of magnifying power. 

" That St. Pierre was doomed I knew, but I was prevented 
from seeing the destruction by a spur of the hill that shut off the 
view of the city. It is impossible for me to tell how long I stood 
there inert Probably it was only a few seconds, but so vivid were 
my impressions that it now seems as though I stood as a spectator 
for many minutes. When I recovered possession of my senses I 
ran to my house and collected the members of the family, all of 
whom were panic stricken. I hurried them to the seashore, where 
we boarded a small steamship, in which we made the trip in safety 
to Fort de France. 

" I know that there was no flame in the first wave that was 
sent down upon St. Pierre, If was a bsavy gas like firedamp, and 



4IO MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

it must have asphyxiated the inhabitants before they were touched 
by the fire, which quickly followed. As we drew out to sea in the 
small steamship, Mont Pelee was in the throes of a terrible convul- 
sion. New craters seemed to be opening all about the summit and 
lava was flowing in broad streams in every direction. My estate 
was ruined while we were still in sight of it. Many women who 
lived in St. Pierre escaped only to know that they were left 
widowed and childless. This is because many of the wealthier men 
sent their wives away, while they remained in St. Pierre to attend 
to their business affairs." 

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE " HORACE " 

The British steamer Horace experienced the effect of the explo- 
sion when farther from land. After touching at Barbados, she 
reached the vicinity of Martinique on May 9th, her decks being 
covered with several inches of dust when she was a hundred and 
twenty-five miles distant. We quote engineer Anderson's story : 

" On the afternoon of May 8 (Thursday) we noticed a peculiar 
haze in the direction of Martinique. The air seemed heavy and 
oppressive. The weather conditions were not at all unlike those 
which precede the great West Indian hurricanes, but, knowing it 
was not the season of the year for them, we all remarked in the 
engine room that there must be a heavy storm approaching. 

"Several of the sailors, experienced deep water seamen, laughed 
at our prognostications, and informed us there would be no storm 
within the next sixty hours, and insisted that, according to all 
fo'cas'le indications, a dead calm was in sight. 

" So unusually peculiar were the weather conditions that we 
talked of nothing else during the evening. That night, in the direc- 
tion of Martinique, there was a very black sky, an unusual thing at 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH \i i 

this season of the year, and a storm was apparently brewing in a 
direction from which storms do not come at this season. 

GREAT FLASHES OF LIGHT 

" As the night wore on those on watch noticed what appeared^ 
to be great flashes of lightning in the direction of Martinique. It 
seemed as though the ordinary conditions were reversed, and even 
the fo'cas'le prophets were unable to offer explanations. 

" Occasionally, over the pounding of the engines and the rush of 
water, we thought we could hear long, deep roars, not unlike the 
ending of a deep peal of thunder. Several times we heard the 
rumble or roar, but at the time we were not certain as to exactly 
what it was, or even whether we really heard it. 

" There would suddenly come great flashes of light from the 
dark bank toward Martinique. Some of them seemed to spread 
over a great area, while others appeared to spout skyward, funnel 
shaped. All night this continued, and it was not until day came 
that the flashes disappeared. The dark bank that covered the hori- 
zon toward Martinique, however, did not fade away with the break- 
ing of day, and at eight in the morning of the 9th (Friday) the 
whole section of the sky in that direction seemed dark and troubled. 

" About nine o'clock Friday morning I was sitting on one of 
the hatches aft with some of the other engineers and officers of the 
ship, discussing the peculiar weather phenomena. I noticed a sort 
of grit that got into my mouth from the end of the cigar I was 
smoking. 

" I attributed it to some rather bad coal which we had shipped 
aboard, and, turning to Chief Engineer Evans, I remarked that 
* that coal was mighty dirty,' and he said that it was covering the 
slhip with a sort of grit. Then I noticed that grit was getting on 



412 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

my clothes, and finally some one suggested that we go forward of 
the funnels, so we would not get dirt on us. As we went forward 
we met one or two of the sailors from the forecastle, who wanted to 
know about the dust that was falling on the ship. Then we found 
that the grayish-looking ash was sifting all over the ship, both for- 
ward and aft. 

ASHES RAINED ON THE SHIP 

*' Every moment the ashes rained down all over the ship, and 
at the same time grew thicker. A few moments later, the lookout 
called down that we were running into a fog-bank dead ahead. Fog 
banks in that section are unheard of at nine o'clock in the morning 
at this season, and we were more than a hundred miles from land, 
and what could fog and sand be doing there. 

" Before we knew it, we went into the fog, which proved to be 
a big dense bank of this same sand, and it rained down on us from 
every side. Ventilators were quickly brought to their places, and 
later even the hatches were battened down. The dust became suffo- 
cating, and the men at times had all they could do to keep from 
choking. What the stuff was we could not at first conjecture, or 
rather, we didn't have much time to speculate on it, for we had to 
get our ship in shape to withstand we hardly knew what. 

" At first we thought that the sand must have been blown from 
shore. Then we decided that if the Captain's figures were right we 
wouldn't be near enough to shore to have sand blow on us, and as 
we had just cleared Barbados, we knew that the Captain's figures 
had to be right. 

"Just as the storm of sand was at its height. Fourth Engineer 
Wild was nearly suffocated by it, but was easily revived. About 
this time it became so dark that we found it necessary to start up 
the electric lights, and it was not until after we got clear fiom the 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 413 

fog that we turned the current off. In the meantime they had 
burned from nine o'clock in the morning until after two in the after- 
noon. 

THE ENGINE BECAME CHOKED 

"Then there was another anxious moment shortly after nine 
o'clock. Third Engineer Rennie had been running the donkey 
engine, when suddenly it choked, and when he finally got it clear 
from the sand or ashes, he found the valves were all cut out, and 
then it was we discovered that it was not sand, but some sort of a 
composition that seemed to cut steel like emery. Then came the 
danger that it would get into the valves of the engine and cut them 
out, and for several moments all hands scurried about and helped 
make the engine room tight, and even then the ash drifted in and 
kept all the engine room force wiping the engines clear of it. 

''Toward three o'clock in the afternoon of Friday we were 
practically clear of the sand, but at eleven o'clock that night we ran 
into a second bank of it, though not as bad as the first. We made 
some experiments, and found the stuff was superior to emery dust. 
It cut deeper and quicker, and only about half as much was required 
to do the work. We made up our minds we would keep what came 
on board, as it was better than the emery dust and much cheaper, 
so we gathered it up. 

" That night there were more of the same electric phenomena 
toward Martinique, but it was not until we got into St. Lucia, where 
we saw the Roddam, that we learned of the terrible disaster at St. 
Pierre, and then we knew that our sand was lava dust." 

The volcanic ash which fell on the decks of the Horace was 
ground as fine as rifle powder, and was much finer than that which 
covered the decks of the Etona. 



414 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

Returning to the stories told by officers of the Roraima, of 
which a number have been given, it seems desirable to add here 
the narrative of Ellery S. Scott, the mate of the ruined ship, since 
it gives a vivid and striking account of his personal experience of 
the frightful disaster, with many details of interest not related by 
others. 

MATE SCOTT's GRAPHIC STORY 

"We got to St. Pierre in the Roraima,'' began Mr. Scott, "at 
6.30 o'clock on Thursday morning. That's the morning the moun- 
tain and the town and the ships were all sent to hell in a minute, 

"All hands had had breakfast. I was standing on the fo'c's'l 
head trying to make out the marks on the pipes of a ship 'way out 
and heading for St. Lucia. I wasn't looking at the mountain at 
all. But I guess the captain was, for he was on the bridge, and the 
last time I heard him speak v/as when he shouted, ' Heave up, Mr. 
Scott ; heave up.' I gave the order to the men, and I think some 
of them did jump to get the anchor up, but nobody knows what 
really happened for the next fifteen minutes. I turned around to- 
ward the captain and then I saw the mountain. 

" Did you ever see the tide come into the Bay of Fundy. It 
doesn't sneak in a little at a time as it does 'round here. It rolls 
in in waves. That's the way the cloud of fire and mud and white- 
hot stones rolled down from that volcano over the town and over 
the ships. It was on us in almost no time, but I saw it and in the 
same glance I saw our captain bracing himself to meet it on the 
bridge. He was facing the fire cloud with both hands gripped hard 
to the bridge rail, his legs apart and his knees braced back stiff. 
I've seen him brace himself that same way many a time in a tough 
sea with the spray going mast-head high and green water pouring 
along the decks. 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 415 

** I saw the captain, I say, at the same instant I saw that ruin 
coming down on us. I don't know why, but that last glimpse of 
poor Muggah on his bridge will stay with me just as long as I 
remember St. Pierre and that will be long enough, 

" In another instant it was all over for him. As I was looking 
at him he was all ablaze. He reeled and fell on the bridge with his 
face toward me. His mustache and eyebrows were gone in a jiffy. 
His hat had gone, and his hair was aflame, and so were his clothes 
from head to foot. I knew he was conscious when he fell, by 
the look in his eyes, but he didn't make a sound. 

" That all happened a long way inside of half a minute ; then 
something new happened. When the wave of fire was going over 
us, a tidal wave of the sea came out from the shore and did the rest. 
That wall of rushing water was so high and so solid that it seemed to 
rise up and join the smoke and flame above. For an instant we 
could see nothing but the water and the flame. 

" That tidal wave picked the ship up like a canoe and then 
smashed her. After one list to starboard the ship righted, but the 
masts, the bridge, the funnel and all the upper works had gone 
overboard. 

" I had saved myself from fire by jamming a metal ventilator 
cover over my head and jumping from the fo'c's'l head. Two St. 
Kitts negroes saved me from the water by grabbing me by the legs 
and pulling me down into the fo'c's'l after them. Before I could 
get up three men tumbled in on top of me. Two of them were dead. 

" Captain Muggah went overboard, still clinging to the frag- 
ments of his wrecked bridge. Daniel Taylor, the ship's cooper, and 
a Kitts native jumped overboard to save him. Taylor managed to 
push the captain on to a hatch that had floated off from us and then 
they swam back to the ship for more assistance, but nothing could be 



4i6 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

done for the captain. Taylor wasn't sure he was aHve. The last 
we saw of him or his dead body it was drifting shoreward on 
that hatch. 

" Well, after staying in the fo'c's'l about twenty minutes, I 
went out on deck. There were just four of us left aboard who 
could do anything. The four were Thompson, Dan Taylor, 
Quashee, and myself. It was still raining fire and hot rocks and you 
could hardly see a ship's length for dust and ashes, but we could 
stand that. There were burning men and some women and 
two or three children lying around the deck. Not just burned, but 
burning, then, when we got to them. More than half the ship's 
company had been killed in that fir-t rush of flame. Some had 
rolled overboard when the tidal wave came and we never saw so 
much as their bodies. The cook was burned to death in his galley. 
He had been paring potatoes for dinner and what was left of his 
right hand held the shank of his potato knife. The wooden handle 
was in ashes. All that happened to a man in less than a minute. 
The donkey engineman was killed on deck sitting in front of his 
boiler. We found parts of some bodies — a hand, or an arm or a 
leg. Below decks there were some twenty alive. 

" The ship was on fire, of course, what was left of it. The 
stumps of both masts were blazing. Aft she was like a furnace, but 
forward the flames had not got below deck, so we four carried those 
who were still alive on deck into the fo'c's'l. All of them were 
burned and most of them were half strangled. 

" One boy, a passenger and just a little shaver [the i Dur-year- 
old son of the late Clement Stokes, above spoken of] w^s picked 
up naked. His hair and all his clothing had been burned off, but 
he was alive. We rolled him in a blanket and put him in a sailor's 
bunk. A few minutes later we looked at him and he was dead. 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 417 

" My own son's gone, too. It had been lis trick at lookout 
ahead during the dog watch that morning, when we were making 
for St. Pierre, so I supposed at first when the fire struck us that he 
was asleep in his bunk and safe. But he wasn't. Nobody could 
tell me where he was. I don't know whether he was burned to 
death or rolled overboard and drowned. He was a likely boy. He 
had been several voyages with me and would have been a master 
some day. He used to say he'd make me mate. 

"After getting all hands that had any life left in them below 
and 'tended to the best we could, the four of us that were left half 
way ship-shape started in to fight the fire. We had case oil stowed 
forward. Thanks to that tidal wave that cleared our decks there 
wasn't much left to burn, so we got the fire down so's we could live 
on board with it for several hours more and then the four turned 
to to knock a raft together out of what timber and truck we could 
find below. Our boats had crone overboard with the masts and 
funnel. 

PREPARED TO TRUST TO LUCK 

"We made that raft for something over thirty that were alive. 

We put provisions on for two days and rigged up a make-shift mast 

and sail, for we intended to go to sea. We were only three boats' 

length from the shore, but the shore was hell itself. We intended 

to put straight out and trust to luck that the Korona, that was about 

due at St. Pierre, would pick us up. But we did not have to risk 

the raft, for about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when we were almost 

ready to put the raft overboard, the Suchet came along and took 

us all off. We thought for a minute just after we were wrecked 

that we were to get help from a ship that passed us. We burned 

blue lights, but she kept on We learned afterward that she was 

the Roddam'" 
27 



4i8 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

Soundings made off Martinique after the explosion showed 
that earthquake effects of much importance had taken place under 
the sea bottom, which had been lifted in some places and had sunk 
in others. While deep crevices had been formed on the land, a 
still greater effect had seemingly been produced beneath the water. 
During the explosion the sea withdrew several hundred feet from 
its shore line, and then came back steaming with fury ; this indi- 
cating a lift and fall of the ocean bed off the isle. Soundings 
made subsequently near the island found in one place a depth of 
4,000 feet where before it had been only 600 feet deep. The 
French Cable Company, which was at work trying to repair the 
cables broken by the eruption, found the bottom of the Caribbean 
Sea so changed as to render the old charts useless. 

New charts will need to be made for future navigation. The 
changes in sea levels were not confined to the immediate centre of 
volcanic activity, but extended as far north as Porto Rico, and it 
was believed that the seismic wave would be found to have altered 
the ocean bed round Jamaica. Vessels plying between St. Thomas, 
Martinique, St. Lucia and other islands found it necessary to heave 
the lead while many miles at sea. 

It is estimated that the sea had encroached from ten feet to 
two miles along the coast of St. Vincent near Georgetown, and that 
a section on the north of the island had dropped into the sea. Sound- 
ings showed seven fathoms where before the eruption there were 
thirty-six fathoms of water. Vessels that endeavored to approach 
St. Vincent toward the north reported that it was impossible to get 
nearer than eight miles to the scene of the catastrophe, and that 
at that distance the ocean was seriously perturbed as from a sub- 
marine Yolcaoo', boilinp- and hissing* coBtioyally 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 419 

In this connection the remarkable experience reported by the 
officers of the Danish steamship Nordby, on the day preceding the 
eruption, is of much interest, as seeming to show great convulsions 
of the sea bottom at a point several hundred miles from Mar- 
tinique. The following is the story told by Captain Eric Lillien- 
skjold : 

THE STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF THE " NORDBY " 

"On May 5th," the captain said, "we touched at St. Michael's 
for water. We had had an easy voyage from Girgenti, in Sicily, and 
we wanted to finish an easy run here. We left St. Michael's on the 
same day. Nothing worth while talking about occurred until two 
days afterward — Wednesday, May 7th. 

" We were plodding along slowly that day. About noon I 
took the bridge to make an observation. It seemed to be hotter 
than ordinary. I shed my coat and vest and got into what little 
shade there was. As I worked it grew hotter and hotter. I didn't 
know what to make of it. Along about 2 o'clock in the afternoon 
it was so hot that all hands g^ot to talkingr about it. We reckoned 
that something queer was coming off, but none of us could explain 
what it was. You could almost see the pitch softening in the 
seamsc 

" Then, as quick as you could toss a biscuit over its rail, the 
Nordby dropped — regularly dropped — three or four feet down into 
the sea. No sooner did it do this than big waves, that looked like 
they were coming from all directions at once, began to smash 
against our sides. This was queerer yet, because the water a min- 
ute before was as smooth as I ever saw it. I had all hands piped 
on deck, and we battened down everything loose to make ready for 
a storm. And we got it all right — the strangest storm you ever 
heard tell of. 



420 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

" There was something wrong with the sun that afternoon. It 
grew red and then dark red and then, about a quarter after 2, it 
went out of sight altogether. The day got so dark that you 
couldn't see half a ship's length ahead of you. We got our lamps 
going, and put on our oilskins, ready for a hurricane. All of a 
sudden there came a sheet of lightning that showed up the whole 
tumbling sea for miles and miles. We sort of ducked, expecting 
an awful crash of thunder, but it didn't come. There was no sound 
except the big waves pounding against our sides. There wasn't a 
breath of wind. 

"Well, sir, at that minute there began the most exciting time 
I've ever been through, and I've been on every sea on the map for 
twenty-five years. Every second there'd be waves 15 or 20 feet 
high, belting us head-on, stern-on and broadside, all at once. We 
could see them coming, for without any stop at all flash after flash 
of lightning was blazing all about us. 

" Something else we could see, too. Sharks ! There were 
hundreds of them on all sides, jumping up and down in the water. 
Some of them jumped clear out of it. And sea birds ! A flock of 
them, squawking and crying, made for our rigging and perched 
there. They seemed like they were scared to death. But the 
queerest part of it all was the water itself. It was hot — not so hot 
that our feet could not stand it when it washed over the deck, but 
hot enough to make us think that it had been heated by some kind 
of a fire. 

*'• Well that sort of thing went on hour after hour. The waves, 
the lightning, the hot water and the sharks, and all the rest of the 
odd things happening, frightened the crew out of their wits. Some 
of them prayed out loud — I guess the first time they ever did in 
their lives. Some Frenchmen aboard kept running around and 



MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 421 

yelling, 'Cest le dernier jour T (This is the last day.) We were 
all worried. Even the officers began to think that the world was 
coming to an end. Mighty strange things happen on the sea, but 
this topped them all. 

"I kept to the bridge all night. When the first hour of morn- 
ing came the storm was still going on. We were all pretty much 
tired out by that time, but there was no such thing as trying to 
sleep. The waves still were batting us around and we didn't know 
whether we were one mile or a thousand miles from shore. At 2 
o'clock in the morning all the queer goings on stopped just the way 
they began — all of a sudden. We lay to until daylight ; then we 
took our reckonings and started off again. We were about 700 
miles off Cape Henlopen. 

" No, sir ; you couldn't get me through a thing like that again 
for ^10,000. None of us was hurt, and the old Nordby herself 
pulled through all right, but I'd sooner stay ashore than see waves 
without wind and lightning without thunder." 

FIERY STREAM CONTAINED POISONOUS GASES 

Careful inspection showed that the fiery stream which so com- 
pletely destroyed St. Pierre must have been composed of poisonous 
gases, which instantly suffocated every one who inhaled them, and 
of other gases burning furiously, for nearly all the victims had their 
hands covering their mouths, or were in some other attitude show- 
ing that they had perished from suffocation. 

It is believed that Mont Pelee threw off a great gasp of some 
exceedingly heavy and noxious gas, something akin to firedamp, 
which settled upon the city and rendered the inhabitants insensible. 
This was followed by the sheet of flame that swept down the side 
dC the mountain. This theory is sustained by the experience of the 



422 MONT PELEE AND ITS HARVEST OF DEATH 

survivors who were taken from the ships in the harbor, as they say 
that their first experience was one of faintness. 

The dumb animals were wiser than man, and early took warn= 
ing of the storm of fire which Mont Pelee was storing up to hurl 
upon the island. Even before the mountain began to rumble, late 
in April, live stock became uneasy, and at times were almost uncon- 
trollable. Cattle lowed in the night. Dogs howled and sought the 
company of their masters, and when driven forth they gave every 
evidence of fear. 

Wild animals disappeared from the vicinity of Mont Pelee. 
Even the snakes, which at ordinary times are found in great num- 
bers near the volcano, crawled away. Birds ceased singing and 
left the trees that shaded the sides of Pelee. A great fear seemed 
to be upon the island, and though it was shared by the human 
inhabitants, they alone neglected to protect themselves. 

Of the villages in the vicinity of St. Pierre only one escaped, 
the others suffering the fate of the city. The fortunate one was 
Le Carbet, on the south, which escaped uninjured, the flood of lava 
stopping when within two hundred feet of the town. Morne Rouge, 
a beautiful summer resort, frequented by the people of the island 
during the hot season as a place of recreation, also escaped. In 
the height of the season several thousand people gathered there, 
though at the time of the explosion there were but a few hundred. 
Though located on an elevation between the city and the crater, it 
was by great good fortune saved. 

The Governor of Martinique, Mr. Mouttet, whose precautions 
to prevent the people fleeing from the city aided to make the 
work of death complete, was himself among the victims of the 
burning mountain. With him in this fate was Colonel Dain, com- 
mander of the troops who formed a cordon round the doomed city. 



CHAPTER XXXH. 

SuDmarine Volcanoes and their Work of Island 

Building; 

IN November,, 1867, ^ volcano suddenly began to show signs of 
activity beneath the deep sea of the Pacific Ocean. There 

are some islands nearly two thousands miles to the east of 
Australia called the Navigator's Group, in which there had been 
no history of an eruption, nor had such an event been handed 
down by tradition, Most of the islands in the Pacific Ocean are 
old volcanoes, or are made up of rocks cast forth from extinct 
burning mountains. They rise up like peaks through the great 
depths of the ocean, and the top, which just appears above the 
sea-level, is generally encircled by a growth of coral. Hence 
they are termed coral islands. These islands every now and then 
rise higher than the sea-level, owing to some deep upheaving force, 
and then the coral is lifted up above the water, and become a solid 
rock. But occasionally the reverse of this takes place, and the 
islands begin to sink into the sea, owing to a force which causes 
the base of the submarine mountain to become depressed. Some 
times they disappear. All this shows that some great disturbing 
forces are in action at the bottom of the sea, and just within the. 
earth's crust, and that they are of a volcanic nature. 

For some time before the eruption in question, earthquakes 
shook the surrounding islands of the Navigator's Group, and 
caused great alarm, and when the trembling of the earth was very 

423 



424 SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 

great, the sea began to be agitated near one of the islands, and 
vast circles of disturbed water were formed. Soon the water began 
to be forced upwards, and dead fish were seen floating about 
After a while, steam rushed forth, and jets of mud and volcanic 
sand. Moreover, when the steam began to rush up out of the 
water, the violence of the general agitation of the land and of the 
surface of the sea increased. 

AN ERUPTION DESCRIBEr> 

When the eruption was at its height vast columns of mud and 
masses of stone rushed into the air to a height of 2,000 feet, and 
the fearful crash of masses of rock hurled upwards and coming in 
collision with others which were falling attested the great volume 
of ejected matter which accumulated in the bed of the ocean, 
although no trace of a volcano could be seen above the surface of 
the sea. Similar submarine volcanic action has been observed in 
the Atlantic Ocean, and crews of ship's have reported that they 
have seen in different places sulphurous smoke, flame, jets of water, 
and steam, rising up from the sea, or they have observed the waters 
greatly discolored and in a state of violent agitation, as if boiling 
in large circles. 

New shoals have also been encountered, or a reef of rocks just 
emerging above the surface, where previously there was always 
supposed to have been deep water. On some few occasions, the 
gradual building up of an island by submarine volcanoes has been 
observed, as that of Sabrina in 1181, off St. Michael's, in the 
Azores. The throwing up of ashes in this case, and the formation 
of a conical hill 300 feet high, with a crater out of which spouted 
lava and steam, took place very rapidly. But the waves had the 
best of it, and finally washed Sabrina into the depths of the ocean. 



SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 425 

Previous eruptions in the same part of the sea were recorded as 
having happened in 1691 and 1720. 

In 1 83 1, a submarine volcanic eruption occurred in the Medi- 
terranean Sea. between Sicily and that part of the African coast 
where Carthage formerly stood. A few years before, Captain 
Smyth had sounded the spot in a survey of the sea ordered by 
Government, and he found the sea-bottom to be under 500 feet of 
water. On June 28. about a fortnight before the eruption was 
visible, Sir Pulteney Malcom, in passing over the spot in his ship, 
felt the shock of an earthquake as if he had struck on a sandbank, 
and the same shocks were felt on the west coast of Sicily, in a 
direction from south-west to north-east. 

BUILDING UP OF AN ISLAND BY SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 

About July 10, the captain of a Sicilian vessel reported that as 
he passed near the place he saw a column of water like a water- 
spout, sixty feet high, and 800 yards in circumference, rising from 
the sea, and soon after a dense rush of steam in its place, which 
ascended to the height of 1,800 feet. The same captain, on his 
return eighteen days after, found a small island twelve feet high, 
with a crater in its centre, throwing forth volcanic matter and 
immense columns of vapor, the sea around being covered with 
floating cinders and dead fish. The eruption continued with great 
violence to the end of the same month. By the end of the month 
the island grew to ninety feet in height, and measured three- 
quarters of a mile round. By August 4th it became 200 feet high 
and three miles in circumference ; after which it began to diminish 
in si. e by the action of the waves. Towards the end of October 
the island was levelled nearly to the surface of the sea. 



426 



SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 



Naval officers and foreign ministers alike took an absorbing 
interest in this new island. The strong national thirst for terri- 
tory manifested itself and eager mariners waited only till the new 
land should be cool enough to set foot on to strive who should be 
first to plant there his country's flag. Names in abundance were 
given it by successive observers, — Nerita, Sciacca, Fernandina, 
Julia, Hotham, Corrao, and Graham. The last holds good in Eng- 





EiL_ 



^ * z'-'A 



GRAHAM'S ISLAND 
Uplift of a Submarine Volcano 



iJsh speech, and as Graham's Island it is known in books to-day, 
though the sea took back what it had given, leaving but a shoal of 
cinders and sand. . 

The Bay of Santorin, in the island of that name, which lies 
immediately to the north of Crete, has long been noted for its sub- 
marine volcanoes. According to one account, indeed, the whole 
island was at a remote period raised from the bottom of the sea ; 



SUBMARfNE VOLCANOES 427 

but this is questionable. It is, with more reason, supposed that the 
bay is the site of an ancient crater, which was situated on the sum- 
mit of a volcanic cone that subsequently fell in. Certain it is that 
islands have from time to time been thrown up by volcanic forces 
from the bottom of the sea within this bay, and that some of them 
have remained, while others have sunk again, 

HOW AN ISLAND GREW 

Of the existing islands, some were thrown up shortly before 
the beginning of the Christian era ; in particular, one called the 
Great Cammeni, which, however, received a considerable accession 
to its size by a fresh eruption in a. d. 726. The islet nearest San- 
torin was raised in 1573, and was named the Little Cammeni ; and 
in 1 707 there was added, between the other two, a third, which is 
now called the Black Island. This made its appearance above 
water on the 23rd of May, 1 707, and was first mistaken for a wreck ; 
but some sailors, who landed on it, found it to be a mass of rock ; 
consisting of a very white soft stone, to which were adhering quan- 
tities of fresh oysters. While they were collecting these, a violent 
shaking of the ground scared them away. 

During several weeks the island gradually increased in volume ; 
but in July, at a distance of about sixty paces from the new islet, 
there was thrown up a chain of black calcined rocks, followed by 
volumes of thick black smoke, having a sulphurous smell. A few 
days thereafter the water all around the spot became hot, and many 
dead fishes were thrown up. Then, with loud subterraneous noises, 
flames arose, and fresh quantities of stones and other substances 
were ejected, until the chain of black rocks became united to the 
first islet that had appeared. This eruption continued for a long 
time, there being thrown out quantities of ashes and pumice, which 



428 SUB M A FUN E VOLCANOES 

covered the island of Santorin and the surface of the sea- — some 
being drifted to the coasts of Asia Minor and the Dardanelles. 
The activity of this miniature volcano was prolonged, with greater 
or less energy, for about ten years. 

In 1866 similar phenomena took place in the Bay of Santorin, 
beginning with underground sounds and slight shocks of earth- 
quake, which were followed by the appearance of flames on the 
surface of the sea. Soon after there arose, out of a dense smoke, 
a small islet, which gradually increased until in a week's time it was 
60 feet high, 200 long and 90 wide. The people of Santorin named 
it "George," in honor of the King of Greece. In another week it 
joined and became continuous with the Little Cammeni. The deto- 
nations increased in loudness, and large quantities of incandescent 
stones were thrown up from the crater. 

About the same time, at the distance of nearly 150 feet from 
the coast, to the westward of a point called Cape Phlego, there 
rose from the sea another island, to which was given the name of 
Aphroessa. It sank and reappeared several times before it estab- 
lished itseH above water. The detonations and ejection of incan- 
descent lava and stones continued at intervals during three weeks. 
From the crater of the islet George, which attained a height of 150 
feet, some stones several cubic yards in bulk were projected to a 
great distance. One of them falling on board of a merchant vessel, 
killed the captain and set fire to the ship. 

By the loth of March the eruptions had partially subsided, but 
were then renewed, and a third island, which was named Reka, 
rose alongside of Aphroessa. They were at first separated by a 
channel sixty feet deep ; but in three days this was filled up, and 
the two islets became united. 



UBMARINE VOLCANOES 429 

Reference may properly be made here to Monte Nuovo and 
Jorullo, not that they appertain to the present subject, but that they 
form examples of the action of similar forces, in the one instance 
exerted on a lake bottom, in the other on dry land, each yielding 
permanent volcanic elevations in every respect analogous to those 
which rise as islands from the bottom of the sea. 

IN THE ICELANDIC SEAS 

Off the coast of Iceland islands have appeared during several of 
the volcanic eruptions which that remote dependency of Denmark 
has manifested, and at various periods in Iceland's history the sea 
has been covered with pumice and other debris, which tell their own 
tale of what has been going on, without being in sufficient quantity 
to reach the surface in the form of an island mass. The sea off 
Reykjanes — Smoky Cape, as the name means — has been a frequent 
scene of these submarine eruptions. In 1240, during what the Ice- 
landic historians describe as the eighth outburst, a number of islets 
were formed, though most of them subsequently disappeared, only 
to have their places occupied by others born at a later date. In 
1422 high rocks of considerable circumference appeared. In 1783, 
about a month before the eruption of Skaptar Jokull, a volcanic 
island named Nyoe, from which fire and smoke issued, was built up. 
But in time it vanished under the waves, all that remains of it to-day 
being a reef from five to thirty-five fathoms below the sea-level. 
In 1830, after several long-continued eruptions of the usual char- 
acter, another isle arose ; while at the same time the skerries known 
as the Geirfuglaska disappeared, and with them vanished the great 
auks, or gare-fowls — birds now extinct — which up to that time had 
bred on them. At all events, though the auks could not well have 
been drowned, no traces of them were seen after the date mentioned- 



430 SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 

In July, 1884, an island again appeared about ten miles off Reykja- 
nes ; but it is already beginning to diminish in size, and may soon 
disappear. 

OFF THE COAST OF ALASKA 

Elsewhere in the region of the northern seas there are other 
instances of the influence of the submarine forces in raising up and 
lowering land. The coast of Alaska is a region of intense volcanic 
action. In 1795, during a period of volcanic activity in the craters 
of Makushina, on Unalaska, and in others on Umnak Island, a vol- 
ume of smoke was seen to rise out of the sea about 42 miles to the 
north of Unalaska, and the next year it was followed by a heap of 
cindery material, from which arose flame and volcanic matter, the 
glow being visible over a radius of ten miles. In four years the 
island grew into a large cone, 3000 feet above the sea-level, and two 
or three miles in circumference. Two years later it was still so hot 
that when some hunters landed on it they found the soil too warm 
for walking. It was named lonna Bogoslova (St. John the Theo- 
logian), by the Russians, Agashagok by the Aleuts, and is now 
known to the whites of that region as Bogosloff. Mr. Dall believes 
that it occupies the site of some rocks that existed there as long as 
tradition extends. 

There were additions to the cone up to the year 1823, when 
it became so quiescent as to be the favorite haunt of seals and 
sea-fowls, and, when the weather was favorable, was visited by 
native egg-hunters from Unalaska. During the summer of 1883 
Bogosloff was again seen in eruption, as it was thought. However, 
on closely examining the neighborhood, it was found that the old 
island was undisturbed, but that there had been a fresh eruption, 
which had resulted in the extension of Bogosloff by the appearance 
of a cone and crater (Hague Volcano), 357 feet high, coimected 



SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 43 1 

with the parent island by a low sand-spit, and situated in a spot 
where, the year before, the lead showed 800 fathoms of water. At 
the same time Augustin and two other previously quiet islands on 
the peninsula of Alaska began simultaneously to emit smoke, dust 
and ashes, while a reef running westward and formerly submerged 
became elevated to the sea surface. Other islands, of origin exactly 
similar to Bogosloff and those mentioned, are to be found in this 
region, notably Koniugi and Kasatochi, in the western Aleutians, 
and Pinnacle Island, near St. Matthew Island. Indeed, the volcano 
of Kliutchevsk, which rises to a height of over 1 5,000 feet, is really 
a volcanic island. 

A permanent addition was made to the Aleutian group of 
Islands by the action of a submarine volcano in 1806. This new 
island has the form of a volcanic peak, with several subsidiary 
cones. It is four geographical miles in circumference. In 18 14 
another arose out of the sea in the same archipelago, the cone of 
which attained a height of 3,000 feet ; but at the end of a year it 
lost a portion of this elevation. 

In 1856, in the sea in the same neighborhood, Captain Newell, 
of the whaling bark Alice Fi^aser, witnessed a submarine eruption, 
which was also seen by the crews of several other vessels. There 
was no island formed on this occasion, but large jets of water were 
thrown up, and the sea was greatly agitated all around. Then fol- 
lowed volcanic smoke, and quantities of stones, ashes, and pumice ; 
the two latter being scattered over the surface of the sea to a great 
distance. Loud thundering reports accompanied this eruption, and 
all the ships in the neighborhood felt concussions like those pro- 
duced by an earthquake. These phenomena seem to have ended 
in the formation of some great submarine chasm, into which the 
waters rushed with extreme violence and a terrific roar. 



432 SUBMARINE VOLCANOES 

Occurrences similar to this last have been several times 
observed in a tract of open sea in the Atlantic, about half a degree 
south of the equator, and between 20° and 22° of west longitude. 
Although quantities of volcanic dross have been from time, to time 
thrown up to the surface in this region, no island has yet made its 
appearance above water. 

The events here described repeat on a far smaller scale similar 
ones which have occurred in remote ages in many parts of the 
ocean and left great island masses as the permanent effects of their 
work. We may instance the Hawaiian group, which is wholly of 
volcanic origin, with the exception of its minor coral additions, and 
represents a stupendous activity of underground agencies beneath 
the domain of Father Neptune. 

In part, as we have said elsewhere in this work, all oceanic 
islands, remote from those in the shoal bordering waters of the 
continents, have been of volcanic or coral formation, or more often 
a combination of the two. No sooner does an island mass appear 
above or near the surface of tropical waters than the minute coral 
animals — effective only by their myriads — begin their labors, build- 
ing fringes of coral rock around the cindery heaps lifted from the 
ocean floor. The atolls of the Pacific — circular or oval rings of 
coral with lagunes of sea-water within — have long been thought to 
be built on the rims of submarine volcanoes, rising to within a few 
hundred feet of the surface, much as coral reefs around actual 
islands. If the volcanic mass should subsequently subside, as it is 
likely to do, the minute ocean builders will continue their work — 
unless the subsidence be too rapid for their powers of production — 
and in this way ring-like islands of coral may in time rise from 
great depths of sea, their basis being the volcanic island which has 
sunk from near the surface far toward old ocean's primal floor. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Mud Volcanoes, Geysers, and Hot Springs. 

OU R usual impression of a volcano is indicated in the title of 
"burning mountain," so often employed, a great fire- 
spouting cone of volcanic debris, from which steam, lava, 
rock-masses, cinder-like fragments, and dust, often of extreme fine- 
ness, are flung high into the air or flow in river-like torrents of 
molten rock. This, no doubt, applies in the majority of cases, but 
the volcanic forces do not confine themselves to these magnificent 
displays of energy, nor are their products limited to those above 
specified. We have seen that mud is a not uncommon product, 
due to the mingling of water with volcanic dust, while water alone 
is occasionally emitted, of which we have a marked instance in the 
Volcan de Agua, of Guatemala, already mentioned. As regards 
mud flows, we may specially instance the first outflow from Mont 
Pelee, that by which the Guerin sugar works were overwhelmed. 

The imprisoned forces of the earth have still other modes of 
manifestation. A very frequent one of these, and the most destruc- 
tive to human life of them all, is the earthquake. 

Minor manifestations of volcanic action may be seen in the 
geyser and the hot spring, the latter the most widely disseminated 
of all the resultant effects of the heated condition of the earth's 
interior. It is these displays of subterranean energy, differing from 
those usually termed volcanic, yet due to the same general causes, 
that we have next to consider. And it may be premised that their 



434 MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

manifestations, while, except in the case of the earthquake, less 
violent, are no less interesting, especially as the minor displays are 
free from that peril to human life which renders the major ones so 
terrible. 

While the largest volcanoes at times pour out rivers of liquid 
mud, there are volcanoes from which nothing is ever ejected but 
mud and water, the latter being generally salt. From this circum- 
stance they are sometimes called salses, but they are more generally 
termed mud-volcanoes. Some varieties of them throw out little 
else than gases of different sorts, and these are called air-volcanoes. 

THE GREAT MUD VOLCANO OF SICILY 

One of the best known mud-volcanoes is at Macaluba, near 
Girgenti, in Sicily. It consists of several conical mounds, varying 
from time to time in their form and height, which ranges from eight 
to thirty feet. From orifices on the tops of these mounds there 
are thrown out sometimes jets of warmish water and mud mixed 
with bitumen, sometimes bubbles o ■ gas, chiefly carbonic acid and 
carburetted hydrogen, occasionally pui e nitrogen. The mud ejected 
has often a strong sulphurous smell I'he jets in general ascend 
only to a moderate height; but occasic-ally they are thrown up 
with great violence, attaining a height of about 200 feet. In 1777 
there was ejected an immense column, consisting of mud strongly 
impregnated with sulphur and mixed with naphtha and stones, ac- 
companied also by quantities oi suiphiirous \^apors. This mud- 
volcano is known to have been in action for fifteen centuries. 

Very recently a small mud-volcano nas Deen formec on the 
flanks of Mount Etna. It began with the throwing up ot jets of 
boiling water, mixed with petroleum and mud, i^rea" quantities ot 
gas bubbling up at the same time. In severa, o dx^ valleys of 



MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 435 

Iceland there are similar phenomena, the boiling water and mud 
being thrown up in jets to the height of fifteen feet and upwards, 
the mud accumulating- around the orifices whence the 'ets aiise, 

A mud-volcano named Korabetoff, in the Crimea, presents 
phenomena more akin to those of the igneous volcanoes of South, 
America. There was an eruption from this mountalil on the 6th 
of August, 1853. It began by throwing up frorr ;_£ summit 
a column of fire and smoke, which ascended to a grea;: iieisfht. 
This continued for five or six minutes, and was followea at short 
intervals by two similar eruptions. There was then ei'=*cted with a 
hissing noise a quantity of black fetid mud, which was so hot as to 
scorch the grass on the edges of the stream. The mud contrnued 
to pour out for three hours, covering a wide space at the mountaii/s 
base. The mud-volcanoes on the coast of Beloochistan are v 
numerous, and extend over an area of nearly a thousand square 
miles. Their action resembles that at Macaluba. 

THE MUD VOLCANO OF JAVA 

There is a mud volcano in Java which is of interest as some* 
what resembling the geyser in its mode of operation and apparently 
due to similar agencies. It is thus described by Dr. Horsfield : — 

" On approaching it from a distance, it is first discovered by a 
large volume of smoke, rising and disappearing at intervals of a few 
seconds, resembling the vapors rising from a violent surf. A loud 
noise is heard, like that of distant thunder. Having advanced so 
near that the vision was no longer impeded by the smoke, a large 
hemispherical mass was observed, consisting of black earth mixed 
with water, about sixteen feet in diameter, rising to the height of 
twenty or thirty feet in a perfectly regular manner, and as if it were 
pushed up by a force beneath, which suddenly exploded with a loud 



436 MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

noise, and scattered about a volume of black mud in every direc- 
tion. After an interval of two or three, or sometimes four or five 
seconds, the hemispherical body of mud rose and exploded again. 
In the manner stated this volcanic ebullition goes on without inter- 
ruption, throwing up a globular body of mud, and dispersing it with 
violence through the neighboring plain. The spot where the ebul- 
lition occurs is nearly circular, and perfectly level. It is covered 
only with the earthy particles, impregnated with salt water, which 
are thrown up from below. The circumference may be esti- 
mated at about half an English mile. In order to conduct the salt 
water to the circumference, small passages or gutters are made in the 
loose muddy earth, which lead to the borders, where it is collected 
in holes dug in the ground for the purpose of evaporation." 

The mud has a strong, pungent, sulphurous smell, resembling 
that of mineral oil, and is hotter than the surrounding atmosphere. 
During the rainy season the explosions increase in violence. 

There are submarine mud volcanoes as well as those of 
igneous kind. In 1814 one of this character broke out in the 
Sea of Azof, beginning with flame and black smoke, accompanied 
by earth and stones, which were flung to a great height. Ten of 
these explosions occurred, and, after a period of rest, others were 
heard during the night. ' The next morning there was visible above 
the water an island of mud some ten feet high. A very similar 
occurrence took place in 1827, near Baku, in the Caspian sea. 
This began with a flaming display and the ejection of great frag- 
ments of rock. An eruption of mud succeeded. A set of small vol- 
canoes discovered by Humboldt in Turbaco, in South America, 
confined their emissions almost wholly to gases, chiefly nitrogen. 

There is a close connection in character between mud volcanoes 
and those intermittent boiling springs named geysers. A good many 



MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 437 

of the mud volcanoes throw out jets of boiling water along with 
the mud; but in the case of the geysers, the boiling water is ejected 
alone, without any visible impregnation, though some mineral in 
solution, as silica, carbonate of lime, or sulphur, is usually present. 

THE GEYSER IS A WATER VOLCANO 

The phenomenon of the geyser serves in a measure to support 
the theory that steam is an important agent in volcanic action. A 
geyser, in fact, may be designated as a water volcano, since it 
throws up water only. It comprises a cone or mound, usually only 
a few feet high. In the middle of this is a crater-like opening with 
a passage leading down into the earth. As in the case 
of the volcano, the geyser cone is built up by its own action. 
In the boiling water which is ejected there Is dissolved a certain 
amount of silica. As the water falls and cools this mineral Is 
deposited, gradually building up a cup-like elevation. The basin of 
the geyser is generally full of clear water, with a little steam rising 
from its surface ; but at Intervals an eruption takes place, some- 
times at regular periods, but more often at irregular Intervals. 

Among the largest and best known geysers In the world are 
those of Iceland, chief among them being the Great Geyser. Silica 
is the mineral with which the waters of this fountain are Impreg- 
nated, and the substance which they deposit, as they slowly evapo- 
rate, is named siliceous sinter. Of this material is composed the 
mound, six or seven feet high, on which the spring Is situated. On 
the top of the mound Is a large oval basin, about three feet in depth, 
measuring in Its larger diameter about fifty-six, and in Its shorter about 
forty-six feet. The centre of this basin is occupied by a circular 
well about ten feet in diameter, and between seventy and eighty 
feet deep, 



438 MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

Out of the central well springs a jet of boiling water, at inter- 
vals of six or seven hours. When the fountain is at rest, both the 
basin and the well appear quite empty, and no steam is seen. But 
on the approach of the moment for action, the water rises in the 
well, till it flows over into the basin. Then loud subterranean ex- 
plosions are heard, and the ground lil round is violently shaken. 

Instantly, and with immense force, a steaming jet of boiling 
water, of the full width of the well, springs up and ascends to a 
great height in the air. The top of this large column of water is 
enveloped in vast clouds of steam, which diffuse themselves through 
the air, rendering it misty. These jets succeed each other with great 
rapidity to the number of sixteen or eighteen, the period of action 
of the fountain being about five minutes. The last of the jets 
generally ascends to the greatest height, usually to about lOO, but 
sometimes to 1 50 feet ; on one occasion it rose to the great height 
of 212 feet. Having ejected this great column of water, the action 
ceases, and the water that had filled the basin sinks down into the 
well. There it remains till the time for the next eruption, when the 
same phenomena are repeated. It has been found that, by throw- 
ing large stones into the well, the period of the eruption may be 
hastened, while the loudness of the explosions and the violence of 
the fountain effect are increased, the stones being at the same time 
•ejected with great force. 

ERUPTION CAN BE INDUCED BY ARTIFICIAL MEANS 

Geysers are found all over the island, presenting various pecu« 
liarities. In the case of one of the smaller ones, which is called 
Strokr, or the Churn, an eruption can be induced by artificial means. 
A barrow-load of sods is thrown into the crater of the geyser, with 
the effect of causing an eruption, The sensitiveness of Strokr is 



MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 439 

due to its peculiar form. An observer states that, 'The bore is 
eight feet in diameter at the top, and forty-four feet deep. Below 
twenty-seven feet it contracts to nineteen inches, so that the turf 
thrown in completely chokes it. Steam collects below ; a foaming 
scum covers the surface of the water, and in a quarter of an hour 
it surges up the pipe. The fountain then begins playing, sending 
its bundles of jets rather higher than those of the Great Geyser, 
flinging up the clods of turf which have been its obstruction like a 
number of rockets. This magnificent display continues for a quar- 
ter of an hour or twenty minutes. The erupted water flows back 
into the pipe from the curved sides of the bowl. This occasions a 
succession of bursts, the last expiring effort, very generally, being 
the most magnificent. Strokr gives no warning thumps, like the 
Great Geyser, and there is not the same roaring of steam accom- 
panying the outbreak of the water." 

The same author thus describes an eruption of the Great 
Geyser, which occurred about two o'clock In the morning : "A vio- 
lent concussion of the ground brought me and my companions to 
our feet. We rushed out of the tent in every condition of disha- 
bille and were in time to see Geyser put forth his full strength. 
Five strokes underground were the signal, then an overflow, wet- 
ting every side of the mound. Presently a dome of water rose in 
the centre of the basin and fell again, immediately to be followed 
by a fresh bell, which sprang into the air fully forty feet high, 
accompanied by a roaring burst of steam. Instantly the fountain 
began to play with the utmost violence, a column rushing up to the 
height of ninety or one hundred feet against the gray night sky, 
with mighty volumes of white steam cloud rolling after it and 
swept off by the breeze to fall in torrents of hot rain. Jets and 
lines of water tore their way through the clouds, or leaped high 



440 MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

above its domed mass. The earth trembled and throbbed during 
the explosion, then the column sank, started up again, dropped 
once more, and seemed to be sucked back into the earth. We ran 
to the basin, which was left dry, and looked down the bore at the 
water, which was bubbling at the depth of six feet," 

In the case of Strokr, the cause of this eruption is not difficult 
to understand. The narrow part of the channel is choked up by 
the turf and the steam, and prevented from escaping. Finally it 
gains such force as to drive out the obstacle with a violent explo- 
sion, just as a bottle of fermenting liquor may blow out the cork 
and discharge some of its contents. 

Geysers are somewhat abundant phenomena, existing in many 
parts of the earth, while striking examples of them are found in 
the widely separated regions of Iceland, New Zealand, Japan and 
the western United States. In the volcanic region of New Zealand 
geysers and their associated hot springs are abundant. It was to 
their action that we owed the famous white and pink terraces and 
the warm lake of Rotomahana which were ruined by the destructive 
eruption of Mount Tarawera, already described. 

GEYSERS OF THE UNITED STATES 

The United States is abundantly supplied with hot springs, 
but geysers, outside of the Yellowstone region, are found only in 
California and Nevada. Those of California exist chiefly in Napa 
Valley, north of San Francisco, in a canon or defile. Their waters 
are impregnated . not with silica, but with sulphur, and they thus 
approach more nearly in their character to mud-volcanoes, whose 
ejections are, in like manner, much impregnated with that sub- 
stance. They are also, like them, collected in groups, there being 
no less than one hundred openings within a space of flat ground a 



MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 



441 



mile square. Owing to their number and proximity, their indiv'.-iual 
energy is nothing like so violent as that of the geysers of Iceland. 
Their jets seldom rise higher than 20 or 30 feet ; but so great a 
number playing within so 
confined a space produces 
an imposing effect. The 
jets of boiling water issue 
with a loud noise from lit- 
tle conical mounds, around 
which the ground is merely 
a crust of sulphun When 
this crust is penetrated, 
the boiling water may be 
seen underneath. The 
rocks in the neighbor- 
hood of these fountains 
are all corroded by the 
action of the sulphurous 
vapors. Nevertheless, 
within a distance of not 
more than 50 feet from 
them, trees grow without 
injury to their health. 

Few of these foun- 
tains, however, are regular 
geysers, most of them 
discharging only steam. 
From the Steamboat Geyser this ascends to a height of from 5c 
to 100 feet, with a roar like that of the escape from a steamboat 
boiler. Associated witli the geyser* are numerous hot springs. 




A GEYSER IN ERUPTION, YELLOWSTONS 
NATIONAL PARKo 



442 MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

some clear, some turbid, and variously impregnated with iron, 
sulphur or alum. In Nevada the Steamboat Springs, as they are 
designated, exist in Washoe Valley, east of the Virginian range. 
They come nearer in character to the Yellowstone geysers, their 
waters depositing true geyserite, or silicious concretions. The 
Volcano Springs, in Lauder County, are also true geysers, though 
of small importance. The ground here is so thickly perforated by 
holes from which steam escapes that it looks like a cullender. 

THE YELLOWSTONE GEYSERS 

The most remarkable geyser country in the world, alike for 
the size and the number of its spouting fountains, is the Yellow- 
stone region in the northwest part of the Territory of Wyoming, 
in the United States, which, by a special act of Congress, has been 
reserved as the Yellowstone National Park, exempt from settle- 
ment, purchase or pre-emption. Here nearly every form of geyser 
and unintermittent hot spring occurs, with deposits of various 
kinds, silicious, calcareous, etc. Of the hot springs, Dr. Peale 
enumerates 2,195, "^"^^ considers that within the limits of the park — 
which is about 54 miles by 62 miles, and includes 3,312 square 
miles — as many as 3,000 actually exist. The same geologist notes 
the existence of 71 geysers in the area mentioned, though some of 
the number are only inferred to be spouting springs from the form 
of their basins and the character of the surrounding deposits. Of 
this vast collection of still and eruptive springs, between which 
there seems every gradation, those which do not send water into the 
air are, owing to the magnificent cascades which they form, often 
quite as remarkable as those which take the shape of geysers. The 
more striking of the latter may, however, be briefly mentioned. 



MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 443 

In the Gibbon Basin is a geyser of late origin. In 1878 this 
consisted of two steam holes, roaring on the side of a hill, that 
looked as if they had recently burst through the surface ; and the 
gully leading towards the ravine was at that date filled with sand, 
which appeared to have been poured out during an eruption. Dead^ 
trees stood on the line of this sand floor, and others, with their bark 
still remaining, and even with their foliage not lost, were uprooted 
hard by, everything indicating that the " steamboat vent," as it was 
called, was of recent formation. In 1875 ^^ ^^<^ ^^ existence, but 
in 1879 the spouting spring — which first opened, it is believed, on 
the nth of August in the preceding year — had "settled down to 
business as a very powerful flowing geyser," with a double period ; 
one eruption occurring every half hour, and projecting water to the 
height of 30 feet ; the main eruption occurring every six or seven 
days, with long continued action, and a column of nearly 100 feet. 

The New Geyser in the same basin is also of quite recent 
origin. It consists of two fissures in the rock, in which the water 
boils vigorously. But there is no mound, and the rocks of the fis- 
sure are just beginning to get a coating of the silicious geyserite 
deposited from the water, so that it cannot long have been spout- 
ing. Again, in the Grotto Geyser — in the Upper Geyser Basin of 
Fire Hole River — the main or larger crater is hollowed into fantas- 
tic arches, beneath which are the grotto-like cavities from which it 
is named, which act as lateral orifices for the escape of water during 
an eruption. It plays several times in the course of the twenty-four 
hours, and sends a column of water sixty feet high, the eruption 
lasting an hour. As yet, however, the force of the water has not 
been sufficient, or of sufficiently long duration, to break through 
the arches covering the basin or crater. The Excelsior- -claimed 
to be the largest of its order, which sent water nearly 300 feet into 



444 MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

the air at intervals of about five hours, and of such volume as to 
wash away bridges over small streams below — was not, until com- 
paratively recent years, known as a specially powerful geyser. But 
If it had for a time waned in importance, its immense crater, 330 
feet in length and 200 feet at the widest part, shows that at a still 
earlier date it was a gigantic fountain. In this deep pit, when the 
breeze wafted aside the clouds of steam constantly arising from its 
surface, the water could be seen seething 1 5 or 20 feet below the 
surrounding level. Yet into the cauldron of boiling water a little 
stream of cold water, from the melting snow of the uplands, ran 
unceasingly. Since 1888 this great geyser has been inactive. 

The Castle Geyser is so named on account of the fancied 
resemblance which its mound of white and grey deposit presents to 
the ruins of a feudal keep, the crater Itself being placed on a cone 
or turret, which has a somewhat imposing appearance compared 
with the other geysers in the neighborhood. It throws a column 
usually about fifty or sixty feet high, at intervals of two or three 
hours, but sometimes the discharge shoots up much higher. 

The Giant, in the Upper Geyser Basin, has a peculiar crater, 
which has been likened to the stump of a hollow sycamore tree of 
gigantic proportions, whose top has been wrenched off by a storm. 
This curious cup is broken down at one side, as though it had 
been torn away during an eruption of more than ordinary violence, 
and on this side the visitor is able to look into the crater, if he can 
contrive to avoid the jets which are constantly spouted from it. The 
periods of rest which it takes are varied, an eruption often not occur- 
ring for several days at a time ; yet when it breaks out it con- 
tinues playing for more than three hours, with a volume of water 
reaching a height of from 130 to 140 feet. In the interval little 
spouts are constantly in progess, Mr. Stanley saw one eruption 



MUD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 



445 



which he calculated to have shot a column of water to the height 
of more than 200 feet. At first it seemed as though the geyser 
was only making a feint, the discharge which preceded the great 
one being merely repeated several times, followed by a cessation 
both of the rumbling noises and of the ejection of water. But 




THE FAMOUS TERRACES OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 

soon, after a premonitory cloud of steam, the geyser began to work 
in earnest, the column discharged rising higher and higher, until 
it reached the altitude mentioned. 

"At first it appeared to labor in raising the immense volume, 
which seemed loath to start on its heavenward tour ; but it was 
with perfect ease that the stupendous column was held to its place, 



446 MUD VOLCANOES JiND GEYSERS 

the water breaking into jets and returning in glittering showers to 
the basin. The steam ascended in dense volumes for thousands of 
feet, when it was freighted on the wings of the winds and borne 
away in clouds. The fearful rumble and confusion attending it 
were as the sound of distant artillery, the rushing of many horses 
to battle, or the roar of a fearful tornado. It commenced to act at 
2 p, M,, and continued for an hour and a half, the latter part of 
which it emitted little else than steam, rushing upward from its 
chambers below, of which, if controlled, there was enough to run 
an engine of wonderful power. The waving to and fro of such a 
gigantic fountain, when the column is at its height, 

' Tinselled o'er in robes of varying hues,' 
and glistening in the bright sunlight, which adorns it with the 
glowing colors of many a gorgeous rainbow, affords a spectacle so 
wonderful and grandly magnificent, so overwhelming to the mind, 
that the ablest attempt at description gives the reader who has 
never witnessed such a display but a feeble idea of its glory." 

A DESCRIPTION OF THE GEYSER AT WORK 

The only other geysers in this remarkable geyserland which 
we can spare room to notice are those known as the Giantess, the 
Beehive, and the Grand, The Giantess sends a column of water 
to the height of 250 feet. An eruption is usually divided into 
three periods — two preliminary efforts and a final one, divided 
from each other by intervals of between one and two hours, while 
the intervals of discharge are very long. Sometimes it does not 
play for several weeks. The Beehive, which is 400 feet from the 
Giantess, gets its name from the peculiar beehive-like cone which 
it has formed. The eruption is also almost unique. It is heralded 
by a slight escape of steam, which is followed by a column of steam 



MUD VOLCANODS AND GEVSRRS 447 

and water, shooting to the height of over 200 feet. The column 
is somewhat fan-shaped, but it does not fall in rain, the spray 
being evaporated and carried ofT as steam — if, indeed, there is not 
more steam than water in the column. The duration of the dis- 
charge is between four and five minutes, and the interval between 
two eruptions from twenty-one to twenty-five hours. 

The Grand is one of the most important in the Upper Gey- 
ser basin. Yet, unlike the Grotto, the Giant, or the Old Faithful, 
—so called from its frequent and regular eruptions — it has no raised 
cone or crater, and a much less cavernous bowl than the Giantess 
and other geysers. The column discharged ascends to the height 
of from eighty to two hundred feet, and the eruptions last from 
fifteen minutes to three-quarters of an hour^ with intervals on an 
average of from seven to twenty hours, This fountain is appar- 
ently very irregular in its action, though it is just possible that 
when the Yellowstone geysers have been more consecutively stud- 
ied, it will be found that these seeming irregularities depend on 
the varying supplies of water at different times of the year. 

THE MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS 

The marvellous phenomena of the Yellowstone region are not 
confined to geyser action, hot springs of steady flow being, as above 
stated, exceedingly numerous. Of these the most striking are those 
known as the Mammoth Hot Springs, whose waters find their way 
through underground passages, finally flowing from an opening as 
the ** Boiling River," which empties into the Gardiner River, 

These springs are marvels of beauty. Their terraced bowls, 
adorned with delicate fret-work, are among the finest specimens of 
Nature's handiwork in the world, and the colored waters themselves 
are startling in their brHliancy. Red, pink, black, canary, green^ 



r-448 i^UD VOLCANOES AND GEYSERS 

saffron, blue, chocolate, and all their intermediate gradations are 
found here in exquisite harmony. The springs rise in terraces of 
various heights and widths, having intermingled with their delicate 
shades chalk-like cliffs, soft and crumbly, these latter being the 
remains of springs from which the life and beauty have departed. 
The crreat spring is the largest in the country, the water flowing 
through three openings into a basin forty feet long by twenty-five 
feet wide. From this the h Dt mineral waters drip over into lower 
basins, of gracefully curved and scalloped outline, the minerals 
deposited on the lips of the basin forming stalagmites of variegated 
hue, yielding a brilliant and beautiful effect. The terraced basins 
bear a close resemblance to the former New Zealand pink and white 
terraces, and since the annihilation of the latter are the most 
charming examples in existence of this rare form of Nature's artistic 
handiwork. 

* There are 5 1 2 pages in this volume. The sixty-four pages of halftone illustrations 
should be added to the last folio number (448) indicated, giving a total of 512 pages. 



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